Just A Story
by missyoufriend
Summary: Jane and Lisbon, overcoming obstacles and rules, to find each other.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Yeah, obviously I don't own anything :)

A/N: Hey, I'm new here, first Mentalist story. Please let me know what you think :) It's just a story right now, not sure what it will turn in to, but I promise it won't drag on and on, there will be a point to it :)

Another case, another dead body, another day. Teresa Lisbon dropped a folder in her filing cabinet and slammed the door shut, every day was the same. Dropping into her chair, she slouched back and pressed her fingers against her temple, in hopes of easing her pounding headache. Closing her eyes, she took a few deep breathes -

"Lisbon!"

Letting out an annoyed groan she opened her eyes and saw Patrick Jane standing in her doorway. More liking hanging in her office, by the door frame, more so reminding Lisbon of a monkey. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth at the thought. "What?" she snapped, blatantly displaying her annoyance.

"Close case pizza is here!" Rigsby yelled from the bullpen behind Jane, holding a slice up in there as if she didn't believe him.

"I'll be out," Lisbon said with a sigh, her hand resting on the mouse for her computer as to make it seem as if she had work to do.

Jane looked at her suspiciously and slowly stepped into her office. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing,"

"Something is,"

"Nothing is,"

"Lisbon,"

"Jane,"

"Are you really trying to lie to me?"

"I'm not lying,"

"Well, now I'm just insulted," Jane dropped into the chair in front of Lisbon, his hand over his chest in mock offense.

Lisbon fought hard not to smile, and not to look at him, as she kept her gaze on the computer screen.

"Well, you at least have to partake in close case pizza,"

Lisbon rolled her eyes and pushed her chair away from the desk. "Fine,"

Jane jumped up to follow her out in the bullpen, a child like grin on his face, as he reached around her to grab a slice of pizza.

"You know you can just ask me to move," Lisbon stated, as his arm brushed against hers, his face closer to hers than normal.

"Where's the fun in that?" Jane said quietly, the grin still on his face, his eyes flicking, just for an instant, to her lips than back to her eyes.

Lisbon shook her head, but before she could grab a slice of pizza, she heard the ringing of her cell phone in her office. A few minutes later she came walking back out, straight past the pizza, car keys in hand. "Cho, we've got a case. Let's let these guys enjoy their pizza,"

"Hey, we'll come too boss," Grace said, dropping her piece and getting up, before Cho could even swallow his first bite.

"No, it's okay," Lisbon said. "I think me and Cho got this,"

"What about me?" Jane asked.

Lisbon glanced over at him "If you must,"

The red and blue lights were a blur through the drizzled windshield. Lisbon knew what they were walking into, that was specifically why she said Cho. Everything was the same as it had been that night, back when she was a child.

Her brothers were at a sleepover and her father had just come running into her room, pulling her into the car and sped off. The rain hitting the windshield, the wipers wiping them away, all she could see were the blur of blue, red and white lights up the road. Her father going on, tears streaming down his face, something about mom and a car accident.

She remembered being frozen in the car as her father jumped out and ran towards the paramedics...

"What do we got?" Cho asked, as the pulled up to the crime scene.

Lisbon didn't say a word, as her gaze locked onto the lights in front of her. The damaged car that was wrapped around a telephone pole and another car that had its front smashed in.

"Lisbon," Jane said softly, noticing her dazed out expression, he grazed her arm lightly with his fingertips to bring her back to reality.

Lisbon was brought back by his touch, and without answering Cho, hoped out of the car into the light drizzle. Flashing her badge at the officer, who was scribbling down on a notepad under an umbrella, she asked "What do we got?"

"Lilly Fields, the DA's wife. Hit and run. We have a witness that says the car just came out of nowhere t-boning Mrs. Fields right into the light pole. Then the driver stumbled out of the car and the witness says disappeared down that way," the officer said, pointing towards a darkened alley.

Lisbon nodded and swallowed. "We'll take it from here, thanks," she said quietly.

"So you think it was on purpose?" Jane asked the officer.

"That's the question isn't it. Car came outta nowhere, but then why would the person just walk away,"

"You said stumbled," Jane corrected

"Well, yeah,"

"Found this in the car that hit Mrs. Fields," Cho said, ducking under the umbrella with them, he handed Lisbon an evidence bag with photo in it.

"Is that a picture of her car?"

"Looks like it," Jane said, taking the baggy from Lisbon's somewhat shaky hands.

Lisbon looked over at the white tarp that lay over the dead body of Mrs. Fields. Her mind traveling back as the scene played before her. The sound of a car coming to an abrupt halt and car doors slamming made Lisbon whip her head around in time to see a young girl, probably 13 or 14 coming running out in the ran. "Oh my god, is that...mom!" Her father caught her and held on to her, his face tear stricken as well, as he glanced over at the white tarp. The girl clung to her father as sobs shook her body and she buried her face in his chest.

"It's okay sweetie, it'll be ok," her father said, his eyes darting around to someone that could them anything.

Lisbon was frozen. This was scene was all too familiar, all too close to home, all too painful. Tears stung her eyes and she squinted as if it was the rain effected them, but Jane and Cho knew better.

"I'll talk to them," Cho offered, walking towards them before Lisbon could say different.

In her head she heard Cho, and she wanted to take charge herself, but it was like her body had shut down, she didn't even feel like she could open her mouth if she wanted to. Her throat felt parched and her chest tight. She didn't even feel the hand that was running soothing circles on her back, until she felt another hand squeeze her wrist lightly. "Hey," his voice was soft and brought her back to the present.

Lisbon pulled away from Jane, turning her back on the crowd, she stared at the scene before her, totally unsure of how to even approach this case. The young girls sobs were tearing at Lisbon's heart, clawing at memory that made it seem like it was just yesterday, she had discovered her mother exactly like this. Laid out on the pavement, a white tarp over here, rain pouring down, her father holding her close for the last time.

"Teresa," Jane's voice called out to her from the haven under the umbrella. Snapping back to the present, Lisbon blinked a few times and shook her head, realizing she was starting to get soaked from the rain. Turning around she set her jaw and walked over to where Cho stood with the family, now under the cover of an umbrella as well.

"This is Agent Lisbon, she'll be heading up the investigation,"

"Hi, I'm so sorry for your loss," Lisbon didn't even extend a hand, not wanting the husband to have to take his arms away from his daughter.

"You'll find who did this?" the daughter whimpered.

Lisbon swallowed. "I promise. You guys should go home now, we'll contact you if we have any questions, probably expect a visit from us tomorrow,"

Mr. Fields nodded and with his daughter tucked under his arm.

Cho looked over at Lisbon, obviously uncomfortable with the distraught look on her face and the silence that lay between them. "You ok boss?"

Lisbon nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Tell Van Pelt to get the security footage from any nearby cameras. And Rigsby to start rooting around for anything suspicious. See if we can get any ID of our missing person. We'll talk to the family tomorrow, get a better idea of the situation. Let's let them grieve,"

Cho nodded and walked away as Jane came up. "So what's going on?"

"Back to CBI, any evidence that was around is gone with with the rain. We'll talk to the family tomorrow,"

"Sounds like a plan," Jane agreed, shoving his hands in his pockets. He watched Lisbon's face, looking for a read on where she was at emotionally. "You'd be annoyed if I asked so I won't,"

"Thanks,"

"Just know I'm here...if you need to talk...I can listen without talking too, believe it or not," he said with an impish smile.

Lisbon gave a small smile, accompanied with a nod and headed back for the van

When they got back to headquarters it was almost eight. Rigsby had a list of people to question and Van Pelt found nothing on the security cameras. Lisbon took the paper from Rigsby and gave it a once over as she headed to her office. "We'll call it a day, start fresh tomorrow. See ya guys,"

The three members of the team all glanced at each other, than all at Jane. That was it?

Jane shrugged as shoulders as his gaze lingered on Lisbon's as she shut the door to her office and sank down in her chair.

"This has gotta be tough on her," Rigsby said, leaning back in his chair, clicking a pen.

"To say the least, shoulda seen her at the scene when the father and daughter showed up," Cho mumbled, straightening up his desk.

"Maybe one of us should stick around..." Van Pelt murmured.

"I'll do it," Jane said quietly, easing down on his couch and closing his eyes. He waited a few moments, listening to the sounds of three leaving for the evening. He heard Rigsby mumble good luck and when he heard the elevator doors close, he breathed a sigh and sat up. Looking over at Libson's office, he could see her silhouette by the window, looking out at the city.

He made his footsteps audible as not to scare her, as he entered her office. Coming up behind her, he stood just a few inches from her and let out a small sigh. "I have a better view," he said, reaching forward he wrapped his fingers around her elbow and tugged on her arm till it dropped. Taking hold of her wrist he led her out of the office, through the bullpen and to the stairs.

She followed, wordlessly.

Jane steered her over to the large window as they entered the dark attic. The only light in the room were the lights from the city around them. The rain made a soothing pattering noise on the window, as the two stared out at the city lights.

"I look just like my mom," Lisbon whispered.

Jane swallowed, continuing to listen.

"It was on an night, just like this. I was reading a book and he just...came in and grabbed my arm and pulled me out the car. He never said what was wrong, just shoved me in the car, mumbling to himself about her,"

Jane could see the tears in her eyes she was struggling to keep at a bay. He knew if he touched her this precious moment would come to an abrupt halt, but he hated seeing her this way and not being able to comfort at all.

"After that, my dad just lost it. The drinking started, the not coming home, the violence," Lisbon closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around herself. "It started with my brothers being too loud one night while he was drinking. Then anytime any of us did anything to-" she stopped as the tears started falling fast, she placed a hand over her mouth to stifle a cry.

"Hey, it's okay," Jane put a hand on her back and around her shoulder, pulling her into his chest where he wrapped his other arm around her.

"I'm sorry," Lisbon mumbled, burying her face in his chest.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Jane assured her, running his hands over her back trying to calm her down.

The minutes passed and they just stood there. Jane with his arms around her, Lisbon pressed into him, her eyes closed, the tears subsiding. "Let me take you home,"

"No, no..I'm fine," Lisbon pulled away, shivering from the chill air and the dampened condition of her clothes.

"Oh, geez, you must be freezing," Jane gently pushed her back towards his make shift bed, having her sit before he slid off his suit jacket and threw it around her shoulders. Sitting beside her he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, rubbing his hand up and down her arm in attempts to warm her up. "You know you would warm up faster if you took your clothes off,"

Lisbon shot him a glare, with a slight smile tugging on her lips when she saw a grin splashed across his face.

"I'm joking," he said quietly.

Lisbon looked away and leaned her head against his shoulder, letting out a small sigh.

Jane was unsure. He had consoled women before, many, but not Lisbon. Well, there was the one time when she was accused of murder, but she had pushed him away so fast, it almost offended him. But now, here she was, allowing him to comfort her, and how badly he wanted to be there for her and for her to know that. But of course, everything seemed to always come out as a joke, she never took him serious when he tried to be.

"I'm always here for you Teresa...whatever you need," he said softly, giving her shoulders a slight squeeze.

When no response came, he peeked under her mess of hair and saw her eyes were closed and her breathing steady. With a sigh, he realized she hadn't had heard him and decided he would save it for another day. Not wanting to wake her, he gently laid her down on the bed and pulled his coat around her more snug. His hands lingering on her arms, just enough time for Lisbon's hands to reach out and grasp his hand.

Jane swallowed and only moved when she gave his hand a small tug and he melted down beside her. Wrapping an arm around her thin waist, keeping his arm OVER the coat, he let her settle against him, and placed a light kiss on the back of her head. Closing his eyes, he expected the guilt and a rush of memories to come at him, but only the peacefulness of sleep enveloped him.

Lisbon shivered in her sleep and tried to get at the warmth she felt coming from behind her. She didn't think she left her heater on, in fact, she didn't even remember coming home. Whatever she was laying on was immensely harder than her own bed, and she was pretty sure, yup, that was an arm draped around her, a hand hanging limply a top hers. Her eyes widened the memory came rushing back, the crime scene, the rain, she was talking with Jane, they sat on the bed and then she closed her eyes for a minute, enjoying the feeling of his arms around her.

Another shiver went through her as noticed a faint breath tickle her neck. She felt her whole body react to the sensation and another, harder, shiver shook her whole body.

Jane must of noticed in his sleep, his arm hugged her closer and she felt his head burrow deeper into her black curls. She knew she should probably get up, but she hadn't had a good night's sleep in a long time and being in his arms was just so comfortable and natural, she felt so safe.

Read and Review please! There will be more, this was just kind of the set up :)


	2. Chapter 2

A/N : Thank-you all so much for the reviews and advice! Very much appreciated! This one is a tad shorter, but the next will be longer (i hate short chapters, but I like leaving cliffhangers :) Enjoy and reviews make me smile :)

The warm sunlight bursting in through the windows is what woke her the next morning. Lisbon slowly rolled on her back, carefully not to push Jane off the whatever it was they were sleeping on. Jane adjusted, but still didn't wake and Lisbon was now lying on her back, very aware of the hand that somehow managed to slip under her button down shirt and now rested on her stomach. "Jane, Jane," Lisbon whispered, not wanting to startle him.

His eyes slowly fluttered open and a lazy smile spread across his face. "Oh, hi Lisbon,"

Lisbon couldn't help but smile at a such a whimsical greeting. "Hi, yourself,"

Jane blinked a few times and then let his gaze rest on her. "You fell asleep,"

"I gathered,"

"I was gonna just lay you down and go over there, but you kinda pulled me down..."

"Oh, really, I pulled you down?"

"Yes, surprisingly strong and persuasive when you are alseep,"

"Hmm..too bad I can't get you to comply this easily when I'm awake,"

Jane smirked and looked away, unconsciously drawing circle patterns with his thumb that rested on her stomach.

"Uh Jane,"

"Yes?"

"You're um...hand..."

"Oh, right..sorry..I guess..I...sorry," Jane quickly pulled his hand away and Lisbon went to get up. "No, wait," Jane reached out and grabbed her wrist before she could get up. They caught each other in an intense stare of blue and green. "I don't want to this to be weird for us," he said quietly.

Lisbon cocked her a head a little, "How so?"

"To any other two people in our situation..something like this..things could get awkward, pushing the other away, completely shutting out, I...I don't want that," Jane looked down at his hand now, where it had slid down to hers and was now running his thumbs over her knuckles.

Lisbon was silent.

Jane took a deep breath before continuing. "This was nice, it...I haven't even laid down next to another women since Angela. I don't...I don't take it lightly, it's not something I do..to..to con someone,"

"I know," Lisbon slid her hand out from under his and wrapped it around his. "How you saw me last night isn't really a side-"

"I know,"

They stood there a moment in silence, holding hands, neither wanting the moment and the security they felt with each other end.

"I should probably..."

"Yeah," said Jane, reluctantly pulling his hand away.

...

A few weeks passed, a few more cases, life went on after their moment in the attic. Though something had shifted in the dynamic of their relationship. Jane going out of his way to to do subtle things for her and ,she accepting without complaint and with a grateful smile. Jane found himself finding reasons to place a hand on her shoulder or at the small of her back or casually brushing against her leg or anything that gave him some sort of contact with her. And Lisbon accepted, with no disapproving looks or snarky comments. But on this particular day, it would the end of their platonic-read-between-the-lines friendship, and it wasn't all smiles and laughs.

They were coming to an end of a case. Somebody had kidnapped, ransomed, and killed the niece of the DA, in some political gesture that disgusted the whole team. Nerves were high and jaws locked in tension as they all suited up with vests outside the kidnappers home to take them down. Even after the little girls body was found, the team worked night and day to track down who it was, leading them here, to a rundown shack in the middle of a bad part of town.

"You see any of them with a gun in hand, you shoot to kill. Don't give these sons of bitches a chance," Lisbon ordered to her team as they all checked their guns.

Jane stood next to Lisbon, his flickering from her to the team as they the nodded with approval.

"Let's go, Rigsby and Van Pelt, go around back take team 2. Cho, Team 1, you're with me,"

"Lisbon," Jane reached for her wrist, keeping her in place as the rest of the team moved out. "Be careful," he whispered, almost pleadingly as his eyes locked with hers and she saw the raw emotion being put out.

Lisbon nodded. "Stay in the van Jane. Lock the doors,"

His hand slid from hers as she ran to join up with the rest of the team.

Jane slipped in the van passenger side of the van and rolled down the window slightly so that he could at least hear what was going on. He watched as his ever fearless counted to three and kicked in the door of the house. He heard yelling, saw the beams of flashlights, heard gunshots and yelling. He winced with every shot he heard, praying the team and Lisbon were staying safe. He heard furniture crashing, more gun shots and yelling and then he was sure he heard Rigsby yell of "Boss" amidst the noise and Jane's heart started racing. Fumbling with the door handle he fell from the car in his attempts at hurrying and his breath caught in his throat as he hesitated. Commotion was still going on inside he could hear everyone's shouts of "put the down the knife". He never liked this part of the job, and he didn't want to consider himself a coward or that he was scared of getting hurt or dying since he was practical running to his own death by continuing to chase Red John. And he wasn't even entirely sure of WHY he was so skiddish when it came to this stuff, when he himself planned on taking Red John's life. A moment later as he was still hesitating by the front walk way weather to rush inside or not, more gun shots and yelling went off, then all was silent.


	3. Chapter 3

a/n: Thank-you so much for the reviews guys! And here comes the turmoil.. rated T :) Enjoy!

Jane didn't realize he was holding his breath until he saw agents come filing out, dragging along cuffed men between them. The EMT's ran in past the people walking out and he saw Cho emerge and their gazes locked as he waved him in.

"Where's Lisbon?" he yelled, fear gripping his heart.

"She's alright, there was a stand off tho," Cho said said as Jane followed him inside.

Jane's eyes searched frantically for Lisbon and he found her sitting on the floor, with two EMT's hovering over her. One was pressing gauze to a wound on her neck which blood was trailing, the other was applying a cold compress to a nasty bruise on her right temple.

"Somebody jumped out of a closet, surprised Van Pelt, got her in a choke hold. Boss couldn't get a shot, chucked her gun and jumped the guy. Gave her a good hit to the head," Cho paused in his story stelling as Jane's eyes flicked for a moment to Van Pelt he was getting looked over by another EMT, with a worried Rigsby by her side. "Another one got Lisbon from behind with a knife, trying to use her as an escape goat. She's alright, he shoved her forward when he tried to run, but he didn't get far,"

Lisbon looked up and saw him and he could see the fear and relief for a split second before her fearless facade took over and she shot him a glare "I thought I told you to stay in the car," she said.

"He was by the front of the house," Cho felt inclined to share.

Jane cracked a cheap smile that didn't reach his eyes as he numbly walked over to where Lisbon was. "Now, do I ever listen?"

"That's true," Lisbon said, wincing slightly as the the emt taped a piece of gauze on her forehead.

"Are you ok?" he asked softly, bending down to her level.

"Yeah," Lisbon mumbled, looking anywhere but in his eyes, she glanced over at the dead body on the floor. "Better than him...can't say I'm sorry,"

"Karma is a bitch," Cho stated.

Once Lisbon and Van Pelt were cleared to go, they all filed out of the house, leaving the clean up to the local PD and the coroners. Cho took the keys from Lisbon, declaring himself driver, while Rigsby and Van Pelt claimed the backseat.

Jane offered his hand to Lisbon to help her in, taking some comfort in their brief moment of contact, he squeezed her hand, making her look over at him and smile weakly. Shutting the door behind her, he climbed into the middle bucket seats and stretched his legs across both seats. "Good job guys," he said grinning broadly, trying to remain his casual self. He expected the silence that followedand leaned back in his seat, letting his gaze settle on Lisbon. He watched her lean her seat back with shaky hands and press a hand to the bridge of her nose.

"You okay boss?" Cho asked quietly, almost tenderly, Jane was intrigued.

"Yeah, I'm good,"

Jane admired the fact that her voice didn't waver. Between her and Van Pelt it was no contest as to who was handling it better. Van Pelt was quiet and leaning heavily on Rigsby's support where as Lisbon put on the brave, strong face. But he read in between the lines. He saw the fear, the weariness the need for someone, anyone to just hug her.

"They are probably gonna want a debriefing. I can make um hold until tomorrow boss," Cho said as they all climbed out of the van upon reaching headquarters.

"No, it's fine," Lisbon said, her hand clutching to the door to steady herself as the world spinned a little around her.

"Hey, you ok?" Jane was immediately in front of her, his hand reaching out to steady her as she had done so many times for him in the past.

"Yeah, just a little dizzy-"

"You okay boss?" Cho, too was at her side, avoiding actual physical contact though.

"I'm fine, guys,"

"You should of gone to the hospital, you might have a concussion," Jane muttered.

"I'm fine. I think Van Pelt is more-"

"I'm fine boss," Van Pelt said quietly, putting a few inches between herself and Rigsby, as if trying to prove a point.

Lisbon rolled her eyes. "Lets just all debrief and go home,"

Two hours later, as the clock scooted a little past eight o'clock, Jane sat on Lisbon's couch, awaiting her arrival. He wasn't sure what was going on with him and Lisbon, or where it was going, but he knew he , for once, he wasn't scared of going forehead. Lisbon was strong, dependent, and he cared for her and wanted to protect her and be there for her to the best of his ability, but he knew there was a streak in her that he knew he would never be able to fully protect and she would she just protect herself. She obviously always had, growing up with a father like the one she had. Having three little brothers to watch over, no wonder SHE was so protective HIM all those times. He smiled to himself at that thought. Yes, she cared for him too, that he knew, but if she was strong enough to let go and let THEM happen; to let HIM actually protect her- THAT he was unsure of.

So lost in thought he didn't see Lisbon make her back to into her office. Or apparently, hear her call his name, until she was standing in front of him, kicking his foot with hers.

"Jane! Are you ok?"

He looked up at her and smiled. "That's a silly question to ask ME. I wasn't held at knife point today,"

Lisbon rolled her eyes and dropped down next to him, letting their bodies brush, sending chills up both their spines.

They sat their for a moment, content in their silence. Lisbon shifted her body a little more towards Jane and dropped her head on his shoulder. "I'm so tired,"

"I don't know why, it's not like you did much today" Jane muttered, an impish smile on his face as Lisbon's hand reached over and swatted his chest. He caught it, holding it in mid air, hesitating weather to bring the hand to his lips or to just hold it. He went with the second option and just held her hand against chest. "I'm gonna..be honest here..and tell you...I...I was scared today," he said softly. He could feel Lisbon stiffen beside him, but he continued on. "I didn't know what was going on, I didn't know if you were okay...I was going crazy...I..I was so relieved when I saw you, alive. I just wanted to hug you,"

He heard Lisbon sigh and he had no idea what that meant. Her head was still resting on his shoulder and her hand had relaxed in his hold. "I was scared too," she said quietly. Looking up at him he saw the tears streaming silently down her face.

He reached up and wiped them away with this thumb.

"It isn't the first time I've been in a situation like that. But...Van Pelt, for her, all I could of was keeping her alive. And then when he had me and the knife...all I could think about was...," she looked down at their hands intertwined and bit her bottom lip, unsure of how to finish her sentence.

"I'm not going anywhere Teresa," he let his hand rest on her cheek , thumbing away the tears that continued to trek down her smooth features.

Lisbon nodded and looked down, once again, at her hand in her lap. Unsure of where to go from here.

Jane's hand slipped down her neck, his eyes going to where his hand skimmed over her bandage. He brushed a thumb over it gingerly. The thought of how close he came to losing her today, hitting him more. His hand slid behind her neck as he leaned his head down and rested their foreheads together, careful not to touch the bruise on the one side. "I'm here, Teresa," he found himself whispering to her, wanting so badly to lean forward and kiss her, to let her know how much of him was there.

Lisbon's heart was racing. So loud, she thought Jane could hear it and could swear he was being this close to just make her uncomfortable. She was melting under his touch and at being this close to him, but yet she couldn't pull away. She needing something, something to make her feel alive. She felt the cool feeling of metal against her cheek, knowing that it was the wedding ring Jane still wore, and closed her eyes. Knowing what her head was telling her, yet feeling what her heart and body contradicting her head.

More tears fell down her face as she felt like she was being ripped in two. She wanted so badly just to lean and make all her feelings of fear and worry disappear and just give in, but she just knew the result in the end.

"It's gonna be okay," Jane really didn't know why she was crying, he had his theories and figured it was just her adrenaline wearing off and the realization of almost being killed finally settling in, it was hard to read Lisbon. He just wanted her pain to stop, her fear to go away, for her to smile. He thought about it less then a second and then found his hand letting go of hers and slipping it under her arm and around her waist, tugging her just a little closer. "Don't cry," he whispered, ever so softly kissing away her tears that tracked down her face.

The touch of his lips on her cheek, just made more tears flow as she closed her eyes and leaned into his touch. Finally she couldn't hold out any longer and turned her face so that the kisses meant for her cheek, landed softly on her lips.

Jane wasn't surprised, he was getting to that location. He paused for just a slight moment , there lips still touching, but not quiet kissing. They both opened their eyes and stared into the others. Then at the same time, Jane pressing into her and Lisbon pushing forward, they met in forceful kiss. There lips melding together, as they both pushed at each others lips with their tongues so they could battle against each other.

Lisbon's one hand slid around his neck while the other got caught up in his mess of blonde curls, as she leaned into him, pressing him back against the couch.

They both needed this, they both wanted this. They wanted everything to go away, and the for the world to just let them be for a while. They needed that feeling that they mattered to some one else, that someone in this world needed them. They also just wanted the other one to feel better and for their pain to slip away. So they fought for it.

Even with Lisbon and all of her tiny force in her petite body tried to press Jane back into the couch, he wanted it too and his own power took over. With one hand already around her and another on her neck, he used the his body weight in his advantage and eased her back gently. All the while they tongues going at each other, Jane leaned her back on the couch. His hand slipping under shirt and running across the tightness of her stomach.

Lisbon gasped at his touch and moaned softly into his mouth, making it hard for Jane not to show just how much he was turned on right now.

Jane's hand gripped her waist as his mouth slid away from hers and down her neck, leaving sloppy kisses in his trail. His kisses turning to sucks, nips and flicks of his tongue as he moved to the other side, stopping for a moment to gently kiss her wound, and then continuing back up to her lips as his hand continued up her stomach, rubbing at her skin just under her breasts.

Lisbon's mind was going crazy. She needed him, she wanted him. His touch, his lips, his body, EVERYTHING. She couldn't help her body's reaction as her grips grinded against him, and he growled in approval as his hand closed over her breast and they both let out moans of pleasure.

Then just as suddenly and passionately as it all started, as Lisbon started pulling at the buttons on hist vest, as Jane started pulling at her bra under shirt. It stopped as she felt the cool, small piece of metal, from Jane's hand against her flesh. "Jane, no," she managed to get out, staying her fingers and pressing her palms against his chest.

Jane let out a deep sigh and pulled away, not completely off of her, but just enough so that he could look at her face. "Teresa, it's okay,"

"No, no it's not. We can't," Lisbon pushed at him more, and Jane reluctantly rolled off her.

"Teresa, wait," Jane reached for her wrist as she sat up and made to get up and walk away.

"Patrick," Lisbon tugged at her hand and Jane let it go, not wanting to force the situation. She stood, tugging at her shirt. She took a few steps away and then stopped.

Jane hoped, for a moment she turn back around, but all he heard was her whisper "I'm sorry, I shouldn't of," and then walk away.

Jane let out a frustrated sigh and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. The light catching on his ring, casting a glisten in his eye, he looked down at the ring and his mouth dropped slightly as he realized why Lisbon had stopped it. He twirled the ring around on his finger and sighed his mind racing as his body tried to make the decision weather to run after her or let it be.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Once again, thanks for the reviews! Sorry, it's been a couple of days, I hope everyone had a GREAT holiday :) So I think I figured out where this story is actually going, so yay :) Enjoy the chapter.

Two days. Two , long, days. Saturday and Sunday.

After Jane didn't go after her Friday evening, they hadn't spoken since. Lately they had been getting together for a late dinner or a coffee or something. Random text messages, anything Jane found interesting that he wanted to share with Libson, he knew she would always respond.

But now, he lay on his twin mattress in the lonely room, the setting sun glistening off the red smiley facey above his head late that Sunday afternoon. He closed his eyes and fiddled, once again, with the ring on the finger of his left hand, letting out a deep sigh. He could mull over thousands of different scenarios and options set before them, but he knew it came to down to only a few things. He cared for Lisbon. He wanted to be with her, be there for, be her support, like Rigsby was for Van Pelt. He didn't want an amazing kiss and then total awkwardness. But if that was the case then there were two things he needed to lay down: his wedding ring, and the gun and flashlight, metaphorically speaking, he had in his hands for Red John.

He slid the ring up and down his finger as he pondered his thoughts. At one point, taking the ring off and looking at it, but then quickly sliding it back on. It felt weird not wearing it, but it felt even more weird knowing things weren't right with Lisbon and that he hadn't talked to her in two days.

Two days he had spent, drinking tea, staring out at the ocean and laying on his bed, images flashing back to him of their few moments together. Her skin so soft and smooth, her lips warm and tender against his. Her scent of cinnamon, he believed, he could still smell on his suit.

Rolling off the mattress he wandered into the part of a house he hadn't been in a long time. The door creaked slightly as he opened it, and in the light cascading in from the moon, he see everything that room still hold, although white tarps had been thrown over everything. Slowly walking past the furniture filled with beloved memories, he made his way to his wife's sitting armoire. Pulling off the tarp, he watched dust fill the air and he could help but smile a little as the light danced off the flecks that flew around the room. Turning back to the armoire his fingers played across the top of it, wandering around aimlessly, recalling memory after memory of times with his wife and daughter. A tear slipped down his cheek as he sat down in the little chair in front of the mirror, recalling the many times he watched from the bed as his daughter sat in his wife's lap, as she played with her hair.

Swallowing the hard lump that formed in his throat, he looked down at his hands and slowly pulled the ring off his finger. He stared it for a good minute or two, images of his wedding day, honeymoon, life with his wife, passing in front of his eyes. He brought the ring to his lips and kissed it softly. "I'll always love you girls, but...it's time for me to go," he said softly, another tear slipping down his stubbly cheek.

He reached over and opened one of the small drawers of his wife's jewelry box and dropped the ring inside. Letting out a deep breath he got up and left the room, closing the door, firmly, behind him.

Monday came fast after that and Jane found himself sitting on his couch, greeting away everyone as they came in for the first day of the week.

"Good morning Van Pelt," he said , more cheery than normal.

Van Pelt looked at him oddly, tilting her head. "Hi," she said, almost cautiously.

Cho followed with Rigsby behind them all equally suspicious of Jane's more than cheery behavior. It was a little past 8 and they were all just standing around chit chatting when Grace suddenly realized it. "You're ring!" she exclaimed, interrupting Rigsby's sentence of his latest weekend excursions.

Jane froze, but then let a small smile creep onto his face. "Yeah, it was time," he said softy, his right hand going to twirl the ring without thinking about it, but then when there was no metal to be found, he settled with folding his hands together.

"Does Lisbon know?" Rigsby asked.

"No...no.." Jane said.

Grace and Rigsby looked at each other, both holding back attempts to break out into huge grins, while Cho just stared at him, grunted and then went back to his book.

The elevator pinged and somehow they all knew who it was and scooted back to their desks.

Jane took a sip of his tea as Lisbon came into view. She looked tired, with bags under her red, glassy eyes. She met Jane's gaze and quickly looked away, not even greeting the team, she made a beeline line for office, shutting the door behind her.

"What's wrong with boss?" Grace asked, looking over at Jane, who merely shrugged his shoulders.

Lisbon shut the door the to her office and let out a deep breath. She had made it to her haven without having to talk to him, even though their brief glance at each other made her breath catch in her throat, she willed herself to look away and that's exactly what she did.

Dropping her briefcase next to her desk, she dropped into her chair. It had been an exhausting weekend. Well, exhausting in the sense of sleep eluding her, so she stayed up till all hours of the night working on reports and reviews. Keeping her phone by her side, waiting for him to contact her, but he never did. So she decided to put it behind her, pretend it had never happened, it would never be mentioned again and they would just move on. Chalking it up to the events of the day, both of them being emotional, blah blah blah. She tried to spin it any way she could but she knew , for her, it all boiled down to the ring he still wore and the dead wife he still loved. She didn't hate it him for it, but she didn't want to start anything with him while he was still living in the past. She knew she cared for him, and all the little things he did for her since that night they "slept" together up in the attic, she appreciated and noted. Letting all that happen was a sign she was willing and she knew he knew that. But yet he still wore the ring, and until he could close that part of his life and open another chapter, fresh, with her, she couldn't let it go any further.

Her phone going off, pulled her from her thoughts.

"Alright guys. We got a one. Diamond Springs, let's take two cars in case we have to split up. You guys go in the van, I'll take my car,"

Everyone nodded as they gathered up their things and headed for the elevators.

"Oh, good, road trip," Jane said, a little too delightful for Lisbon's liking.

Lisbon got in her car and immediately locked the door. She knew soon the blonde headed consultant would be wanting to join her, but she was hoping she was fast enough to elude him for this trip. Turn the ignition she put the car in reverse when a slight tapping noise stopped her from hitting the gas pedal. She looked up into the eyes of her consultant and hesitated.

Jane cracked a small smile and propped his eyebrows up as he looked down at the door lock and then back at Lisbon.

With a roll of her eyes, she unlocked the door.

Jane hopped in. "Thanks. I would ride with the other guys, but there is a weird smell in the van when Rigsby is in it," he mumbled, quickly strapping on his seat belt.

"What do you want Jane?" Lisbon asked quietly.

"Oh, you are going to the crime scene aren't you? I thought..isn't that what we are doing?"

Fifteen minutes into the road trip, Lisbon had set her cruise control and Jane watched her relax a little in her seat. He thought this seemed like the best time to talk.

"So, how was your weekend?" He asked, after settling himself so that he was facing her more.

Lisbon glanced at Jane out of the corner of her eye. "Uneventful. Yours?"

"Meh," he shrugged his shoulders, uncharacteristically biting his bottom lip, as if nervous. "Teresa, I-"

"Look, let's just...let's forget about Friday night," Lisbon cut him off, getting right to the point.

"Well what if I don't want to?" Jane asked stubbornly, almost jack ass like as if he would actually listen to what she was saying. Slightly offended that she would just want to discard the moment that had shared that night

"It was...a mistake," Lisbon kept her eyes on the road, her hands gripped on the steering wheel, not even bothering to cast a glance in his direction to see his reaction.

"Well why do you get to make that call?"

"Why are you being so stubborn about this?" Lisbon's voice raised, he was starting to annoy her with his defiance on the matter. "Our emotions were going, it had been a long day..."

"Well, what if I enjoyed what happened Friday night,"

Lisbon scoffed. "Apparently not, I didn't hear from you all weekend,"

"I'm not that one that got up and walked away!"

"I'm not the one that didn't chase after what they wanted," Lisbon shouted back. "Ugh! I knew I should of made you ride in the van!"

Jane was slightly infuriated at the women beside him. "You could of if you wanted to, you wanted this to happen,"

Lisbon glared over at him. "Don't even presume to know what I want, Jane,"

Jane's glare over at Lisbon was one of lust and anger. He didn't know what was coming over him, but he knew the woman beside was all he wanted and it frustrated him to know that she REALLY had wanted him that night and she was just too scared to chase after her. Although, the time apart had been good and he was able to clear his head and figure out things, he could see it might not of been what Lisbon had needed.

As for Lisbon, she was NOT expecting to get so angry about everything. But his flippant attitude about it all, saying that he cared and he liked it, but then not chasing after her when she left, just really pissed her off.

"Pull over Lisbon," he said in a low voice, his eyes never wavering from hers.

"What? No! We are on a case. We are on the highway, better yet,"

"Teresa, pull over now," his voice got lower, and Lisbon couldn't tell what was getting into him. Why he was acting so calm all of the sudden, yet his voice sounding like he could burst with anger at any moment. Whatever it was scared her enough she , she glanced around at the desert around them and pulled off the side of the road.


	5. Chapter 5

Rigsby glanced in the rear view mirror and saw Lisbon's car pull off the side of the road."Um..guys..do you think we should stop?"

Grace and Cho turned and looked out the back window and saw Jane jump out of the car.

"No phone call, no hazard lights, I say lover's fight. Keep driving," Cho stated, turning back to his book.

Lisbon brought the car to an abrupt halt and slammed the gear shift into park. "What the hell-Jane?" she yelled as she saw him jumping out of the car. She watched as he walked around the front of the vehicle to her door and yanked it open.

"Get out," he commanded.

Lisbon, stunned, to say the least, of his actions fumbled with her seat belt, before Jane reached across her and unbuckled it one swift motion. Grabbing her by the wrists he pulled her out of the car and back around to his side of the car, away from the road.

"Jane-"

He whipped around , letting go of Lisbon's hands, they found other spots to occupy as he pushed her up against the vehicle as his lips crashed down on top of hers. One hand snaked around her waist , while the other slipped behind her head, keeping her to him.

Lisbon struggled for a moment. Her palms flattening against his forearms in vain attempts to push him away, but she soon found herself gripping at the lapels of his jacket, pulling him closer.

Jane pressed his body against hers, letting his hand fall from her neck once he was sure she wasn't going anywhere, letting both hands settle on her waist. His tongue pressed against her lips until she finally cracked and allowed him entrance. There tongues going at it, once again, in attempts to overpower the other and be the one in control.

In need for oxygen, they pulled apart, breathing heavily, lips swollen.

Lisbon, gathering her wits and pride, without warning reached up and punched him right in the nose.

"Ouch," Jane's hands went to cover his face as he staggered backwards, putting distance between himself and the petite boxer. "What was that for,"

"You son of a bi-" Lisbon froze when she saw his hands, mainly his fingers, even more so, his ring finger. It was bare. He had taken it off. She swallowed as Jane's gaze followed hers and he slowly pulled his hands away from his face.

"I wanted you to notice, but certainly not that way," he mumbled, gingerly touching his nose. "It feels broken,"

Lisbon licked her suddenly dry lips and and pushed her hair off her face, not really sure of what to do or say. Not sure of weather to throw her arms around him and continue their make out session or to punch him again for him just..being him. "Where's your ring?" she tried to keep her voice steady, but it wavered.

Jane sighed, a hand still pinching the bridge of his nose. "I took it off," he stated, as if it was an every day occurrence.

"Why?"

"Why do you think?"

"Don't...don't play games Patrick," Lisbon pleaded.

"I'm not,"

"Then why?"

"It was time,"

"Why didn't you come after me?"

"I didn't know you needed it. I didn't...I needed to process everything,"

Lisbon looked away, pressing her lips together in a thin line as tears pricked her eyes.

"Teresa," Jane stepped forward, taking her hands in his. "I'm sorry...if it hurt you. But...I...I needed to come to this on my own time. And I did,"

Lisbon looked up at him and Jane could see something in her eyes, he couldn't quite put his finger on it? Guilt? Sadness? She was so hard to read at times, it was frustrating.

"Jane I-"

"I know you want this, Teresa , and I do too. I've let go of my pa-"

"What about Red John?"

Jane swallowed, he still wasn't sure about what would happen when that day finally come, but he knew he was willing to try. "I still want to find him. I still want justice. But I'm in the process of letting go my need for revenge," he reached up and gently swiped at the tears on Lisbon's face, his hand lingering to cup her cheek and caress softly across her skin. "I want you more, Teresa,"

Lisbon closed her eyes and leaned into his touch, letting out a small sigh.

Jane's hand dropped to her waist, once again, and he pulled her in against his chest, hugging her tightly.

Lisbon's arms went around him and she pressed her face into his suit, urging the tears to go away.

Jane buried his face in her hair and closed his eyes, reveling in the moment of this new step they were taking, both of them being on the same page. And to know that- wait..was that...Jane scrunched up his nose slightly and took another light sniff. Aftershave? His brow furrowed, but Lisbon pulling away, made him chuck any thought to the back of his mind, as she looked up at him with her emerald green eyes. "I think when we get back-"

She was cut off by her phone going off. Yanking it out of her pocket, she looked down at the caller ID, silenced it and then shoved it back in her pocket.

Jane noticed her eyes widen slightly when she saw the ID of the caller, but then saw her quickly regain her composure as she looked back up at him. "Everything okay?" he asked casually.

"We should have a long talk, when we get back,"

"Dinner, then?" Jane offered.

Lisbon nodded.

Jane leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her unsuspecting lips. "Okay, then,"

Lisbon detangled herself from his old and smiled weakly at him.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Jane asked, unwilling to let her walk away..just yet.

"Yeah, I'm fine,"

Jane looked at her quizzically, but then chalked it up to stress and weariness and nodded. "Okay," he said, letting it go.

After a long day of questioning people, investigating, driving, awkward moments and lingering touches, they finally made it back to CBI that night. It was around 7 when the team wearily treked to their desks, put away their things and called it a night. Jane and Lisbon agreeing for Jane to come over around 8:00 with takeout, since both were a little too tired to go out.

Upon arriving home Lisbon glanced around her apartment, nothing to really straighten up since it was never a mess, since she was never home. With a sigh trekked upstairs to her bedroom, changing out her work clothes and into a pair of gray yoga pants and white tank top; socks completed her outfit and she headed back downstairs.

She was in the kitchen, contemplating a quick shot of jack to calm her jumping nerves, and was reaching for a glass when she heard a soft knock on her door. He would have that kinda of timing, she grimaced, closing the cabinet she peeked through the peephole. He was holding a bag of takeout and looking around, she grinned a little when she realized he seemed to be nervous and slowly opened the door.

Jane was indeed nervous. He had hope of where this night would lead there relationship, but he didn't wanna bet on it yet. Lisbon was unreadable and that always threw him off. His coat was dangling over one arm and he had a bag of food in the other as Lisbon opened the door, he smiled. She was so beautiful. Her outfit hugging in all the right places, he noted as his eyes canvased her petite frame, he noticed her blush and lower her head a little at his blatantly checking her out, and it only made him smile bigger. "Hey,"

"Hi," Lisbon responded quietly, stepping aside so he could enter.

Jane entered, dropping a swift kiss on her forehead as he brushed past her. "I got Chinese, a little mixture of everything, i figured that-"

"That's great," Lisbon went to grab the utensils while Jane unloaded the bag.

They ate in silence, a comment or two made about the case. The tension between them was thick, not really a bad tension, not quite sexual tension, but just that awkwardness of not knowing where to begin or who even to bring it up.

Then, as Lisbon was washing the last of the dishes, Jane came up behind her, slipping his arms around her, he simply hugged her. Burying his face in the crook of her neck, he dropped a simple kiss on her tiny scar from the incident last week and rested his chin on her shoulder.

Lisbon stopped what she was doing and leaned back into him, her hands covering his, she closed her eyes enjoying the moment.

Jane slowly turned her around, sufficiently pinning her against the counter, and intertwined their fingers.

Lisbon could tell he wanted to say something, but was unsure. "Why...is the great Patrick Jane at a loss for words," she quipped.

Jane smiled weakly and shrugged his shoulders. "I talk incessantly and rattle on when I don't care. When things leave me speechless or it's hard for me to talk, it's just cause I don't want to mess it up..it means too much to me,"

The silence fell between them.

"Why was it time to take it off?" Lisbon asked quietly.

Jane shrugged his shoulders. "It was time,"

Lisbon rolled her eyes.

"Okay, I'll try a different answer," Jane eyes traveled around everything behind Lisbon as he thought of what to say. Then, taking a deep breath, he plunged in. "I didn't think I'd ever care for anyone like I cared for my wife. I never meant to fall for you, I never wanted to. I fought it. And not because of anything about you..it was just..I thought it would be cold and callous of me to just carry on with my life, love again, be happy, when...everything I had caused,"

Lisbon opened her mouth to speak but Jane silenced her with a finger to her lips. "Just let me finish," he looked down at their hands and blinked furiously, trying to keep the tears at bay. "I'm only hurting myself and those around me whom I've grown to care, by continuing to punish myself for everything that has happened. I miss my wife everyday, but there is nothing I can do to bring her back. I missed you...so much the past two days and it hurt even more knowing there WAS something I could to get you back. Angela...would want me to move on, she would want me to be happy. And I am...very happy when I'm with you,"

Lisbon brushed at her face as a tear slipped down her cheek. Her heart pounding in her chest as Jane poured his heart out to her.

"Now..my hatred toward Red John still runs, very deep. And the thought of him coming after you in any way makes me want to run out that door right now and I will if you'd rather that. But ...I'm not scared if you aren't," he ended that last sentence as sort of a question and Lisbon knew this was it. The moment she could either take and run with or step back and run away.

Lisbon smiled and closed the small gap between them. "I'm not scared of Red John," she whispered, seeing his brief smile before she closed her eyes and met him in a passionate kiss. Her arms wrapped around his neck as her hands settled into his curls as his hands roamed over her body. Deepening the kiss, Jane pressed Lisbon in between him and the counter, his tongue entering the depths of her mouth as his hands slid up down her body.

Lisbon could feel her shields growing thin every time he touched her skin. Their kiss intensifying as both of their walls started to crumble and both felt themselves let go of worries that were holding them back.

Jane let his mouth trail down to her neck, nipping and sucking at the sensitive spots as, grinning against her neck as she moaned with pleasure. Her hands were already working on the buttons of his vest as his hands dug into her waist.

"Bedroom," Lisbon panted as Jane reached the hollow of her neck and started kissing the exposed chest.

"No time," Jane mumbled against her skin as he gently pulled her down on the floor.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N : Sorry this one took a while guys. I was having a hard time trying to figure out the best way to do the next part, and it took a couple of re writes..but I liked it. Thanks for the reviews on chapter 5! You guys are awesome! Read and enjoy :)

Lisbon squeezed her eyes shut against the light pouring in from her bedroom window and snuggled further into her pillow. Her moving pillow. Her breathing pillow. Her eyes flew open as she was met with the rising and falling of a hairy chest. Her heart rate lowered as a smile played on her lips as the events from last night came rushing back. The kitchen floor, the couch, the stairs, the bed; It had been a long, good, night. So much for taking things slow, she thought her fingers lightly tracing invisible patterns on his bare chest.

She peaked up at him and smiled at his steady breathing as he slept. Yes, she was in bed with Patrick Jane. Her unruly, annoying, broken, breath-takingly handsome, kind, consultant. The list of adjectives used to describe him, positively and negatively, could go on, but Lisbon left at it that and snuggled closer against him; burying her head in his shoulder, turning her head slightly to place a feather light kiss on chest.

She felt his arms tighten around her at her movements and she giggled slightly.

"What are you laughing about?" he asked groggily, and without even looking at him, Lisbon could tell he was smiling.

Lisbon slipped her arms around his torso and smiled up at him. "Nothing,"

Jane dropped a kiss on her mess of dark curls and sighed. "Good morning,"

"Good morning,"

"How ya doing?"

Lisbon looked up at him and smiled. "Pretty good, actually,"

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, I had a great evening with this guy,"

"Great, huh?"

"Yeah. It wasn't so bad in bed either,"

"Hmm,"

Lisbon laughed and hugged him tightly.

"I knew I was out of practice but I at least thought-"

Lisbon rolled over on top of him and silenced him with a kiss. "I'm kidding,"

Jane smiled. " Well...you...you...were beyond amazing," he whispered, tucking her hair behind her ears.

Lisbon felt the color rise up her neck and into her cheeks and Jane smiled as the color rushed to her snow white face. "Aww Teresa, no need to bashful,"

More color came to her cheeks at the use of her first name, as Jane slipped a hand behind her neck, pulling her down to meet him another melting kiss. His mouth leaving hers, he started trailing kiss down her neck as she tilted her head back to allow him better access. His hands were just starting to wander to her chest when her phone started vibrating on the nightstand next to the bed.

Jane's head and hands fell back against the pillow as Lisbon rolled off him to retrieve it. He felt her body tense for a moment and then relax again as she the set phone back and turned back to him. "As much as I want to stay in bed all day with you...we do have to go to work," said, her fingers skimming his chest, as she propped herself up with other arm.

Jane reached over and pushed her hair out of her face, tracing her jawline as he did so. He caught her green eyes in an intense stare, giving her the time to freely bring up who was on the phone. But when she just looked at him, breaking out in a smile over his sudden seriousness, he smiled back.

"What?" she asked.

"What, what? I'm enjoying the moment," he whispered, trailing a hand down her shoulder, to her elbow to her wrist, he rested his fingers, keeping her locked in a trance.

Lisbon looked at him, uncertain.

"Work," he stated, jumping out of bed. Filing away the information that Lisbon's pulse was racing.

So far it had been an easy day. No calls, just paperwork. Lisbon sat at her desk, Jane lounged on her couch, drifting in and out of sleep. Occasionally Jane would Lisbon what her favorite something was and after a minute or two Lisbon would respond and even if Jane wasn't looking at her, he could tell she was smiling. The secrecy of whoever was getting in touch with Lisbon did bother him, but he was trying not to let it get in the way of this new alive feeling every time he looked at Lisbon.

Alternating between sitting up, laying down and walking around her office tinkering with things, he couldn't help that every time he looked over at her, he ended up staying at her, memorizing every curve, every feature to her. The way her body moved, the way she pushed her hair out of her eyes, the way she cracked her neck to alleviate the tension in her muscles. He honestly thought he had taken care of that last night. A smile played on his lips as he thought of last night. He had not had that much sex in a while, maybe that's why today HE was feeling so relaxed. When he took his ring off, he knew he had to close that chapter. Yes, he would always love and remember his wife, cherishing the memories he had of being with her. But they were ones he could not, did not want, to dwell on while he was with Lisbon. Lisbon was a new chapter. A new beginning. Not a replacement, just a fresh start that he needed, that she needed. And he was loving every minute of it.

So busy was Jane with his thoughts and Teresa with her paperwork, neither of them noticed a figure approaching her office.

"Well, I see things are hopping around here,"

Jane raised his eyes to their visitor, his brain making the connection before his gaze went next to Lisbon, who's mouth had dropped and looked a little stunned. Jane swallowed the lump in his throat fast and quickly got to his feet. "Walter Mashburn," he greeted, plastering on a grin and extending a hand, taking note of the single rose that Walter had in his hand.

"Patrick, good to see you," Walter beamed and then glanced over at Lisbon. "Teresa," he walked over to her desk as Lisbon, who was still speechless, glanced from Walter to Jane. "I figured you were busy, having not returned any of my calls or texts since, but don't worry, I don't want anything. I just wanted to give you this and say...uh " he glanced over his shoulder at Jane and then turned back to Lisbon, "I had enjoyed this past weekend,"

Jane felt like he had been punched in the gut, but he didn't show it. He was still smiling, but Lisbon saw the hurt, confusion and anger in his eyes, as he glared at Walter from behind him and then cast his glance to Lisbon.

"I ...uh..." Lisbon flustered.

"Oh, Lisbon, no need to be bashful," Jane said, jumping in, coming to stand next to Walter. "Thebman is just giving you rose. What exactly did you guys do this weekend?" he asked, looking at Walter.

"Oh ..Patrick..I don't kiss and tell," Walter said with a grin.

Jane kept the smile on his face as his mouth made an "o" shape and turned back to look at Lisbon, who still, had not said one word. "Well...I'll leave you two to it then," Jane said as he took his leave from the room. Shoving his hands in his jacket pocket, he hastened to the elevators, jabbing his finger against the button over and over until it pinged open. They opened again on the third floor, where he then took the stairs to the attic.

He liked to to think of himself as a calm, rational man, but at this moment in time all he wanted to do was punch Walter right in the nose. He could guess WHY Lisbon did it, in fact, he knew why, but that still didn't mean he liked it. Technically they weren't together at that point, and if he had looked outside of himself that night and gone after her, it wouldn't of happened. And he guess he would rather it be Mashburn than some random person she met at a bar. But still, he never thought Lisbon was that type of person to just call up someone when she needed comfort. Dropping in his chair, he rested his head in his hands and waited, knowing she would come to find him as soon as she dealt with Walter.

Last night had been so perfect, of course it had to come to a crashing halt. Of course it couldn't end well, this was his life. Chewing on his bottom lip, he thought. Yes, for Lisbon, he took of his wedding ring. Yes, he was almost sure he loved her, well, he knew loved her and cared for her, but things were just very complicated. Not to mention the fact that he was putting her in grave danger just by being friends with her, but by being together. Jane shuddered at the thought. The fear of the whole situation seeping back into him. Maybe Walter was the good thing for Lisbon, not him.

Standing up, he shoved his hands back in his pocket and started pacing. His heart and mind contradicting each other. He was the one feeling completely torn in two. He loved Lisbon, he wanted to be with her, she made him feel alive again, giving him a sense of something to live for. But then at the same time, she was just a new target for Red John and he couldn't bare the thought of the same thing happening to her as his wife and child. He was a different person now than he was with his wife. This was a new kind of love he was experiencing, that he wished he had got to experience with Angela.

"Jane," her voice was soft and raspy, like it was hard to speak.

He stopped, staring out the window, squeezing his eyes shut, trying to usher back the tears. He knew he what he had to do, he just prayed it wasn't too late.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: once again. sorry for the delay, such is life :) Reviews make me smile :) Hope you guys enjoy this chapter.

...

"Jane, I can explain,"

"There's nothing to explain Lisbon," throwing her casual smile.

"Don't do that," Lisbon said, a little more fierceness in her voice and as she closed the gap between them.

"Do what?" he could sense her rising anger at his casualness towards it all and he bit his bottom lip, saddened by the events that were about to take place.

"Turn around and look at me,"

With a sigh, Jane turned around. Sadness, guilt, fear, and anger were all the emotions that played across her face, her feet were firmly planted to the ground with her hands balled up in fists on either side of her.

"It's not what you think," she choked out.

"You don't have to explain yourself to me-"

"YES, yes I do," Lisbon grabbed his hand that he waved at her and held it tight. "Sunday night and I still hadn't heard from you, I was a wreck. I thought I had seriously screwed up our friendship up or whatever it was we had, I just...I needed something. And Walter called, and he asked me to dinner..and.."

Jane smiled sadly softly and put his hands on Lisbon's shoulders. "Lisbon, you slept with Walter, it's fine,"

She flinched at the use of her last name. "You aren't...mad?"

Jane shrugged his shoulders. "I had my suspicions when I smelled aftershave in your hair on Monday, and then all the texts and phone calls..when you ignored them, your eyes would widen and your body tensed,"

Her shoulders slumped in defeat. "I don't know what to say,"

"Then let me talk. This, this has opened my eyes,"

Lisbon's head raised and her heart started racing, this wasn't sounding good. She felt the the tears threatening to spill as she saw the conflict in Jane's eyes even as he tried to put on the easy going face with his charming smile.

Jane sighed as his hands dropped down to hold hers, his thumbs running over her knuckles, a nervous tick. "You...you deserve better than me," he couldn't even look at her as he spoke.

"No,"

He was surprised at how forceful her voice was as she pulled her hands away and stepped closer to him, her hands cupping his face to make him look up at her. "Don't. Don't do this Jane," she whispered, as a tear slipped from her eye.

"You don't deserve to be looking over your shoulder to see if Red John is there. You don't deserve someone as damaged as me, Teresa. I'm being selfish by keeping you with me," he wanted to sound more sure, but her confidence in the matter took him by the surprise and now he was back to being unsure of what to do.

"Selfish? You said if I wasn't scared, you weren't scared,"

"I lied,"

"Listen to me Patrick. You poured your heart out to me last night, now it's my turn. I need you. You said last year some would ask why I keep you around and yes, we close cases. But also because I care about you. You are just as damaged as I am, so to hell with that excuse. You say I deserve better, I say you deserve better, I'm the one that slept with someone else,"

"Don't beat yourself up about-"

"Just shut up and listen, okay? No, we had no clarification as to what we were but, we both know we belong with each other. As much as you annoy me, and frustrate me, and make me want to pull out my gun and shoot you, you are the only person I don't have to explain myself to and you don't have to tell me your story and that makes us both feel safe. Don't...don't give this up because YOU are scared, because THAT is selfish,"

Jane swallowed hard and stared into her fiery green eyes. He wasn't expecting her to be this prepared on the matter. Hoping the effects the effects of the whole Mashburn secret coming out would make her slow to respond. "He hurts, everyone I care about. I can't...I can't bear the thought if..if something happened to you. I can't..I couldn't live with myself,"

Then feeling bold and confident with having silenced the never without words Patrick Jane, Lisbon took it all a step further. "Do you love me, Patrick?"

Jane's eyes widened at the question, thinking his heart would burst out of his chest right there at the rate it was beating. He did not see that coming, he actually saw this conversation going quiet differently then how it was playing out. His silence contradicted what Lisbon saw in his eyes, so she continued with her speech.

"Damnit Patrick, fight for me," Lisbon didn't have the courage to rejoice in the fact, but needed it to plead with him to stay with her. "Don't let Red John win, don't let your selfishness win, or my poor choices. We can do this. I'm here, alive, wanting you, don't throw this away,"

His shields were falling. He had intended to kiss Lisbon on the cheek, tell her to be happy with Mashburn and to not think twice about him. But now, she had gotten him to admit his love for her and every word she spoke, intertwined their fate further as he felt himself unable to walk away from her. His hands slid around her waist as he felt himself unwinding, he pulled her close and buried his face in her hair. "I don't wanna loose you, Teresa," he whispered into her neck.

Lisbon wrapped her arms around his neck, "I'm not going anywhere," she whispered against his ear. "I'm sorry Patrick, I'm so sorry about Mashburn, I should of waited-"

"Shh," pulling back, Jane cupped her face in his hands. "All is forgotten,"

Lisbon closed her eyes and leaned into touch. "Promise me something, Jane,"

"Depends?"

"Promise you won't back out? Unless, you know, we break up over normal things. I don't want to wake up one morning and you be gone,"

Jane could sense the fear in her voice and his heart broke a little that she fear that he would just up and leave her. "I have a feeling you are going to be stuck with me for a while, babe,"

Lisbon smiled at the endearment and shook her head. "Well, good,"

Jane leaned forward and placed a small kiss on her lips, pulling back just as she started to, knowing that PDA at work was probably a big "no, no" in her book, especially when they were supposed to be hiding it from everyone

Lisbon pressed her lips together, bringing her hands down to rest against his chest. "I should probably get back down stairs,"

"Okay, I'll be down in a bit," he whispered, kissing the faded bruise on her forehead.

"'Mmkay," she said quietly pulling away. Jane let his hand trail down her arm and to her hand as she pulled away, giving her a hand a squeeze before her touch was lost on him.

"Oh, hey, question," he asked, just as she reached the door.

Lisbon turned around, hands in her pocket, eyebrows arched, "Yea?"

"Do you love me?"

Color rushed to Lisbon's face as she smiled, biting her bottom lip she looked down at the floor, scuffing her shoe against some invisible mark on the floor. Flashing him a smile, she slipped out the door.

Jane smiled. It was one of the things, she didn't have to say, but he knew. And he knew that she knew that he loved her and that it was just maybe too early for him to vocalize it yet. "Well, that's just rude not to answer," he called out teasingly, knowing she could hear him.

Each day they spent side by side. At work they remained professional and distant, with an occasional brush or two here and there on Jane's accord. He still lounged about around the office, said asinine things, schemed stupid plans that left Lisbon cleaning up the fall out. But at the end of the day, they parted ways, only to meet at Lisbon's apartment. Most days Jane wouldn't let her get out of the car before he was on her. It was just too much, for him, being around her all day in close quarters, but yet having to maintain a distance.

When Lisbon posed the question one evening about Rigsby possible knowing, Jane let out a hearty chuckle as he stirred the contents of his pot on the stove. "I'm keeping tabs on everyone's thoughts dear, no worries, especially from Rigsby," was his reply.

Most evenings they found themselves snuggled up on the couch, watching a movie or on some horizontal surface, sometimes vertical, in her apartment going at it. The joys of a new founded love.

On this day though, love was the last thing on Lisbon's mind.

The day had been going fine. They were at a dead end on case, exhausting all leads, so slightly frustrated and feeling a headache coming on, Lisbon had already downed 3 cups of coffee. Eyes rolling at the "tsk, tsk" that Jane put out every time she came back to her office with another cup.

"If you don't like you can find another couch to sleep on I'm sure," she snapped, sinking into her chair.

"Cranky. And I thought last night was good for you too, it at least sounded-"

"Jane! Shut up!" Lisbon throw her pen at him, a little harder than necessary, but she didn't care and smirked a little when Jane let out a small yelp.

"Geez," Jane winced, rubbing his forehead where the pen had bounced off.

Smiling, Lisbon shook her head and went back to her paperwork, when suddenly she felt her stomach tighten up and an all too familiar feeling rise in her throat.

"You okay?" Jane asked, eyeing Lisbon as he watched her face go from beautifully white to sickly pale in just a matter of seconds.

"I...I ..don't feel," Lisbon yanked her bucket over from the side of her desk and emptied the contents of her stomach in it.

"Whoah, hey," Jane jumped up and hurried over to Lisbon, quickly catching up her hair that she had haphazardly tossed back. "It's okay," he murmured rubbing her back.

"What the hell?" she gasped.

"Van Pelt!" Jane yelled.

"Boss, you ok?" Grace asked, hurrying over to Lisbon's side.

"I'm fine,"

"Does this look fine, Lisbon?" Jane questioned, gesturing with his hand at the container that held her morning breakfast.

Lisbon groaned as she leaned over, her arms wrapped around her stomach. "It's probably just a bug,"

"Just a bug? You were fine last night," Jane said, without thinking, keeping his eyes averted from Grace's curious look as Lisbon pretended she hadn't heard him.

"I can run you over to the hospital real quick," Grace offered.

"No, I'm fine...I just..water, please, Jane?"

Jane handed his hold on her hair over to Grace as he scooted out of the room.

"So, just all of the sudden?" Grace asked, her mind mulling over all the possibilities silently in her head.

"Yeah, really weird," her throat was dry, she just wanted something to drink and the this taste out of her mouth. "My coffee did taste off though,"

"Hmm..maybe the cream was bad?" Grace offered.

"Maybe," Lisbon said, "Oh, oh god," before leaning over the waste basket again.

Jane was busy retrieving the water when Rigsby came up behind him, preparing a cup of coffee. "Boss, is sick, huh?"

"Appears that way," Jane mumbled, searching for a bottle of water in the fridge.

"Just use tap,"

"She likes bottled,"

"Kind of all the sudden though, she was fine this morning,"

Jane grunted as he spotted a bottle all the way in the back.

"Maybe she's pregnant,"

Jane dropped the bottle he held in his hands as Rigsby jumped at the clattering noise. He felt slightly dizzy himself now.

"Hey, you ok?"

"Yea, yeah," was all Jane could say.

...

a/n: the ending to this chapter, is basically a set up to the next chapter. (which is a big one!) so, don't let your mind wander to the obvious :)


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Again, thank-you for the reviews, they make my day :) Hope you guys enjoy this chapter, I was in suspense writing it! haha!

After having being told by everyone to take Lisbon home, Jane wordlessly helped an unsteady Lisbon out the office and to the elevators. Once the elevator doors closed, Jane looked over at Lisbon. "How-"

"Like shit," Lisbon murmured as she leaned against the descending walls. She closed her eyes as the elevator seemed to make her more dizzy.

Jane pressed his hand to her forehead. "No fever," he wiped his hands on his pants, "Clammy though," he murmured.

The ride back to Lisbon's apartment was silent, he tried to let her rest, though his heart went out to her as she tossed and turned in the seat next to him. His mind battled the pros and cons about the possibility of her being pregnant. Then, another thought crossed his mind, what if it was the outcome of her one stand with Mashburn a few weeks ago. His chest tightened at the thought as he felt a surge of anger rise and he felt his hands clenching the wheel harder than necessary. He didn't know what he would do if that was the case, just step out of the picture probably. Tears pricked his eyes at the thought and he blinked rapidly to keep them at bay.

"Are you ok?" Lisbon croaked, peaking a glance at him through half an open eye, noting his change in demeanor, the whitening of his knuckles.

Jane gave a tight smile. "Just wondering if it's mine or Mashburns," he muttered, inwardly cursing at himself for even saying anything, immediately regretting it. The anger left him immediately as he chanced a glance at Lisbon and saw the hurt in her eyes at the comment.

"I'm not pregnant,"

"How do you know?"

"Do you think I am? You're the psychic,"

Jane laughed bitterly, shaking his head.

"I'm not pregnant Jane, and if by some chance I am, it wouldn't be Masburns,"

"You are safer with Mashburn, anyways,"

A tear slipped down her face. "Why are you doing this?"

Jane looked over at her, saw her tears and immediately felt ashamed. "I'm sorry, Teresa, I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me," his words jumbled together as he hurried to get them out, reaching over he found her hand and squeezed it. "Forgive me, please?"

Teresa nodded and closed her eyes. "Just take me home, Patrick," she murmured.

Helping her into the house, he insisted she lay down up in the bedroom. After one more trip to the bathroom to pray to the porcelain god, Jane carried a worn out Lisbon into the bedroom.

"Shall I?" he asked, starting to unbutton her shirt, but stopped waiting for her approval.

Lisbon nodded and closed her eyes, "S'hot..sweaty," she mumbled as she swayed against his hold.

"Steady now," he whispered, his hands working at her buttons, he slid her shirt off and marveled, just for a moment, how incredibly gorgeous she was even when she was puking her guts out.

"Stop smiling," she groaned, leaning into his chest to hide herself from him.

"I can't help it, you are beautiful even when you are sick," he said.

"I'm sick," she moaned.

"Still beautiful," he whispered into her ear, nuzzling his face into her neck, pressing soft kisses to her cool, clammy skin. She shuddered at the touch of his lips and he noticed how his breath on her neck sent goosebumps all over her skin and he smiled at the effect he had on her. Placing another long kiss on her neck, he continued his task of stripping her clothes, then tucking her into bed. "It is very hard not to take you though," he murmured, brushing off the hair that clung to her sweat stricken face.

She opened her eyes and stared up at him. "I'm not pregnant, Jane,"

He was silent for a a moment as he studied her face. Then deciding it was best not to discuss it right now, he smiled softly "Shhh, we can worry about that later. Just rest, we can talk when you feel better" And with a kiss to her forehead he slipped out of the room.

Jane dawdled around in the apartment for a little bit, straightening the remnants of their night before. He walked down the hallway from her bedroom and paused at the picture frame hanging on the wall, with a smile he righted the picture that was slightly askew and continued on.

A few hours later, Lisbon was still sleeping away when his phone went off. It was the team, they got one. Glancing up at the staircase, he told them he'd be there in 15 minutes then hung up. Slipping into her bedroom, he smiled at the sight of Lisbon curled up in a ball with the blanket clutched tightly around her. Depositing maalox, water, acetmetaphin, and a sticky note saying where he went just in case she woke up, he kissed her softly on the forehead and slipped back out.

Arriving on the scene, he couldn't help but feel slightly awkward without Lisbon beside him, threatening in his ear to behave. The absence of familiarity, made his heart hurt just a little, although he kept reassuring himself that she was at home, sleeping, safe and sound.

"Where's the body Cho?" Jane called out, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Inside. Jane," Cho's voice stopped Jane in his tracks and his heart started to speed up. "It's Red John,"

Jane felt a tightening in his chest and he wished even more that Lisbon was next to him. Lisbon. His mind unsettled at the coincidence of her getting sick, just hours before a Red John case popped up. Biting his bottom lip nervously and deciding he was being paranoid, he entered the house.

"Female, mid 30s, someone called in an anonymous tip about half hour ago," Grace informed him as Jane's eyes canvased over the body looking for any mistakes or clues.

"Where's Rigsby?"

"He actually got sick right after you and the boss left, how is she feeling?"

Jane frowned at this information. "Sleeping it off," he murmured staring at the red smiley face on the wall, it always seemed to mock him every time. He hated it. Some one bumped into him, but he didn't notice as he just glared at the wall. The feeling in his stomach unnerving as he glanced around the apartment, it was sparse, a few family pictures here and there. The decor reminding him of Lisbon, his brow furrowed as a line of thought entered his mind and he bent down to pick up the sheet that rested over their victim. His heart rate picked up as it dawned on him who this looked like. The victim was a petite girl, long dark hair, with the facial structure that was uncannily close to Lisbon's. His mouth was dry suddenly and he felt like his head was being pressed together as the room started to spin. Dropping the sheet, he stood quickly, "Grace, I'm going back to Lisbon, call me if anything new comes up..oh and..test...the cream in the fridge at work, something is a muck with it,"

Grace looked at him like was crazy, "The cream, why?" but Jane was already out the door. Digging in his pockets to get to his keys, his heart just about stopped when a small, folded piece of paper came out instead.

Looking around, he unfolded it, feeling what little composure he had left, slipping from his weak grasp on it. It read: BEcAREFUL WHO YOU LAY WITH. NEXT TIME, IT WILL BE HER. DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU.

Jane felt like he was going to vomit as he glanced around wide eyed for the person who had slipped him this note. It was a little disconcerting considering it was a all cops and CBI agents around him. So instead of yelling for one someone to come with him, for fear of choosing the wrong one, he yanked his car door open and sped off.

"Come on, pick up the phone Lisbon," he cursed as it went to voice for the third time. Throwing the cell phone on the seat next to him, he pressed his foot down further on the gas pedal.

Stumbling out of his car he ran up the walkway to the apartment. Fumbling through his keys for Lisbon's key, he jammed it into the lock and wretched open the door. Standing in the doorway for a moment, he looked around, nothing seemed to be out of place. Of course, nothing had before either. He had seen this scene before, 8 years ago; walking into his house, everything seeming fine, until he got to their bedroom, and the note.

Shaking the images from his head, he willed himself to move as fear started grip his heart and freeze his movements. Taking the stairs two at a time, he cautiously made his way down the hall to the bedroom. No note. He let out a small sigh and opened the door.

Dread filled his heart as he saw it.

The red smiley face.

Drawn right above Lisbon's bed. "Oh, god no," he whispered. Black spots started filling his vision as he stumbled towards the bed. "Teresa, no, Teresa." he looked down at her still body, and as he was about to just breakdown he noticed two things.

No blood.

And the steady rise and fall of her chest.

"Oh, god, Teresa. Teresa, wake up," he dropped down and shook her.

"What? What?" a groggy Lisbon started yelling. "What hell Jane,"

"Oh, god, you're alive, you're alive," he said over and over, pulling her up into his arms he held her tight.

"Jane, what the hell is going on?"

"We have to get out of here..I need..I need. I need to call Cho," pulling away, he pulled out his cell phone and started dialing, but Lisbon's hand covering up his phone stopped him.

"Patrick, what?

"You need to get dressed, right now. Where is your gun?" he yanked open her nightstand drawer and without hesitation pulled out her gun. Jumping off the bed, he ran over to the closet and threw it open, gun at his side, like he had seen Lisbon do so many times before. Satisfied noone was there, he walked over to the window and peered out.

"Jane! What the hell!"

Walking back over to Lisbon, he took hold of her wrist and pulled her out of bed, then turned her around to face the wall.

"Oh my god," was all she could manage to get out, as she started to feel light headed.

"He was...he was right here, right...oh, god, I'm so sorry Teresa," he leaned against her, bringing his forehead to the side of her head, his hand cupping her neck, tears sliding down his face. "I...I thought,"

"I'm okay. I'm okay," Lisbon clung to his jacket as the horror of what had happened started sinking in. She was sleeping, sleeping away whatever bug she had, and Red John had been right over her. She shuddered at the thought, then suddenly realized all she was in was her underwear. "Oh god," reaching forward she grabbed the closest blanket she could and held it in front of her in attempts to cover herself up, from who didn't know, she just needed something.

"He was...was right here. He could of...I thought," Jane couldn't get a complete sentence out as it all began making sense. Lisbon didn't just have a bug, somebody had been inside CBI and done something to her coffee, somebody had been at that crime scene and slipped the note in his pocket, all orchestrated events so Red John could slip in, right under his nose. Anger was ripping at his insides. He was so infuriated with himself, with Red John, with everyone. He couldn't believe how close this came.

"It's okay, I'm-"

"It's okay? It's okay!" Jane yelled, pulling back from Lisbon. "He could of killed you. He was right here," he waved toward the bed with his hand that held the gun and that was all Lisbon needed to see for her to go into cop mode.

"Jane, give me the gun," she said, so sternly he didn't think twice about handing it over.

"He..he was right...here..oh my god," Jane dropped down on the sofa chair that sat across from her bed. "I thought he..."

Lisbon swallowed and glared over at the red smiley face on her wall. Anger boiling inside of her, coupled with fear. He had gotten into HER house. Liiterally stood right over, could of easily killed her, all while she SLEPT. "How did you know to come back?"

It took a moment for Jane to respond, and when he did his voice was low and shaky as he recalled the events leading up to him coming back. Pulling the note out of his pocket, he handed it to her. "We have to call this in,"

Lisbon's first instinct was to agree, but when she thought about it a beat longer she said no.

"Are you crazy?" Jane stared at her incredulously.

"If we show this," she motioned to the note "They'll know about us,"

Jane jumped to his feet. "I don't give a rat's ass who knows about us Teresa!" he yelled,"Red John was here, he could of killed you, he's taunting me, and you are worried about the CBI finding out about us so you don't wanna report this," he pointed an accusatory finger at the wall.

"That's my career-"

"This is your life!"

"Yea, MY life!"

"Fine. I quit. Now call it in,"

"Jane,"

He took a step closer, closing the small distance that was between them, he gripped her shoulders. "He just made me relive the most horrific moment of my entire life all over, again. That bastard is not getting away this time,"

Lisbon stared at him for a moment, then slowly nodded her head. "Okay,"

Dropping his hands from her shoulders, he dropped back down into the chair.

"Can I get dressed first?"

"I'll call it," he said quietly. "Wait, where are you going?" he yelped as she gathered her clothes and started to walk away from him.

"Um..bathroom," she knew it sounded silly, here she was practically naked in front of him, and not like he hadn't seen her completely naked before. But knowing Red John had seen her in this state just made her feel so violated, she didn't want Jane to be looking at her right now.

"Please...I just...I need to stay with you. To see you," he pleaded.

One look into the broken man's eyes, and Lisbon nodded. She couldn't imagine what he was going through. She knew it was worse than what she was feeling so she gave in.

"Cho, we need everyone at Lisbon's right away," she heard Jane saw in low, determined voice.

...

a/n : and you guys thought she was pregnant! :-P ehh..she still might be, we'll have to see... :)


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: SO incredibly sorry for the delay guys! Thank-you so much for the reviews on chapter 8, they encourage me so much, so thank-you, thank-you :) Hope you guys enjoy this chapter, we are getting to the ultimate climax of the story :) Enjoy and Review! You might want to read the last bit of the last chapter, if you don't remember what was going on, I'm picking up right where that one left off, literally.

xxxx

"No. Wait!" Lisbon yelped as she pulled on her yoga pants, stretching out her arm for Jane to hand her the phone,

"What?" Jane

"Let me talk to him,"

He looked at her warily, "Hold on Cho, Lisbon wants to talk to you," and handed the phone over to her.

"Cho, listen to me. Yeah, I'm fine. Look, don't come here. Just call everyone, tell them to be at work an hour early tomorrow,"

"What are you doing?" Jane hissed, jumping out of his chair.

"Jane's fine. Just trust me on this Cho," Lisbon splayed a hand across Jane's chest to keep him at distance from the phone. "Yeah. See you in the morning," and with that Lisbon flipped Jane's phone closed and tossed it on the bed.

"What the hell was that?" Jane was trying hard not raise his voice.

"First. You need to calm down. You are so worked up you aren't thinking clearly and that's gonna get us and everyone else killed,"

Jane set his jaw and stared at her, waiting for an explanation.

"Red John is probably watching. We make a big deal, the team, cops, everyone here, he'll know our next textbook move,"

"So, what-"

"We do nothing tonight, completely throw him, he won't know what we are gonna do next,"

Jane contemplated for a moment. "Then what?"

Lisbon swallowed. "We let this play out,"

Jane's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"He wants to kill me, let him try. We'll talk to the team tomorrow at work, have them watching us as we go about like nothing happened and when Red John tries, we'll have him,"

For half a second Jane was hopefully, but then his eyes grew dark and he shook his head. "No, no, it's too risky,"

Lisbon rolled her eyes. "Do you have a better idea? I'm open to suggestions,"

"Yeah. We leave," he said, without missing a beat

"What?"

"We are putting the team at risk asking them to protect us, and more importantly, using you as bait, we know he's not gonna hurt me. Let's just leave, out of the country,"

"I'm not leaving. This is my home, my brothers are here, my job is here,"

"Lisbon, YOUR life is at stake," Jane gripped her by the arms again

"I'm a cop for a reason, ya know,"

"Have you learned nothing from all the Red John cases!" Jane yelled.

"I'm not running from him. Go if you are scared, but I'm not,"

"You don't...don't get it do you?" Jane dropped his hands from her arms and ran through his hands through his hair in frustration. "He will KILL you. No more CBI, no more brothers, no more us," his last excuse came out in a strangled whisper as tears glistened his eyes.

Lisbon's expression went from steely stubborn to soft and contemplative. "Okay, we leave. Then what? It's a game to Red John, what would he do to bring us back? He won't just let you walk away. He killed Bosco just so you could have case back Who will he go after? My brothers? Danny? The team?"

Jane eyes were frantic. He was so caught up with Lisbon's safety, he didn't think of the others and his heart broke more. This was all his fault.

Lisbon stepped forward and slipped her arms around his waist "Let's finish this, let's make this the last move. We'll outsmart him this time," she said softly.

Jane stared at her, "What if we don't? This isn't tv or a movie, there's never a happy ending for everyone,"

"But at least the bad guy always gets caught," Lisbon smirked.

Jane shook his head.

"I'm confident in the people I surround myself with, my team. They won't let anything happen to me. More importantly, I believe you won't let anything happen to me,"

"You can never leave me sight," he said in a ragged breath, as his arms reluctantly went around her back in submission to the hug that he knew she would take as acceptance to her plan.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Lisbon mumbled.

Jane sighed and rested his forehead against hers. "What do you want to do about that?" his eyes flicked to the mark on the wall.

"I'll paint over it tomorrow. I won't sleep under it tonight though, come on, let's go downstairs,"

"I wont' be doing much sleeping anymore," he mumbled as Lisbon grabbed the blanket that lay at the foot of her bed.

Three days had passed since the incident. Everything was squared away with Hightower, who opted to have the conversation about their relationship LATER, and every night Lisbon and Jane were covertly escorted back to Lisbon's apartment.

On the third night, Jane was sitting in the corner of the couch, his arm stretched across the back of it, his fingers playing with random strands of Lisbon's hair, who was cuddled conveniently against him. You've Got Mail was playing on the tv and while it both looked like they were watching it, there minds were elsewhere. They hadn't heard anything from Red John and they knew each day drew them a step closer to the inevitable end of their little game.

Lisbon was already tired of someone watching her EVERY minute. Jane even had Van Pelt escorting her to the bathroom, the one place he couldn't follow her. He knew it frustrated her and it only made him more made himself as he continued to blame himself for all of this. Every day he tried to change her mind to get her to leave with him, and each time it resulted in a fight that left them both walking away in a huff, only Jane would turn right back around, settle in his couch and just stare at her.

Lisbon sighed and closed her eyes. She just wanted it to be over.

"You okay?" Jane asked, squeezing her shoulders gently.

"Hmm..define okay?" Lisbon smirked, turning her body so that she could look up at him.

"What are you thinking about?"

Lisbon shrugged her shoulders. "Just want this to be over, it's kind of put a damper on the enjoyment of us,"

Jane smiled softly and pulled her back to his chest. "I guess it has," he mumbled, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I'm sorry,"

"Hush, don't apologize,"

"He's taunting me," Jane said quietly. "Telling me I'm getting too close to being happy and if I don't back off he'll take it away," his gaze locked with Lisbon's as he spoke. "He wanted me to know that he is watching, and he knows and he could take it away at any time. He thinks that since he was _merciful _this time, I'll head his warning and back off, go back to being miserable and alone, which I should be,"

"Don't talk like that," Lisbon squeezed his torso and buried her face in chest.

Jane sighed. "You know I say the things I say, because I don't want to see anything happen to you. I have no desire to stay behind and seek revenge anymore; no tricks, no schemes. I just want...you.. safe. Preferable me with you,"

In a moment of raw honesty, Lisbon saw the true change in the man she had grown to love. Reaching up Lisbon caressed his stubbly cheek and smiled softly. "Patrick Jane, look at you,"

Jane reached up and took hold of her hand. "I know you are scared to say it to me, because of the past. You are scared once we catch or kill Red John by whoever's hand, that I'll just disappear. But I hope me saying these things and promising you, I will be here, will be enough for you, until I can prove it. I put a lot down for you, and I'm glad I did. It's like when I came back and found you the other day and grabbed the gun, I didn't think about it I just acted to keep you safe. Like when I killed Hardy too, I put down my fear of it to keep you safe. I need you Teresa. Loving you is far more rewarding than being consumed by hatred for someone, that when he probably he is dead, I won't feel differently. So, thank-you for helping me to let it go. And I promise you, I'm not going anywhere. If we make it out of this alive...I'll...I'll take the right steps in showing you how much I love you..instead of sneaking around,"

Lisbon was having a hard time breathing as a tear slipped down her cheek. She wasn't expecting this outpour of emotion from him, but welcomed it; She needed it. Leaning forward she captured his lips in a sweet, yet hungry kiss. Pulling back just a centimeter she smiled,"I love you too, Patrick," she whispered.

Jane smiled, slipping his hand behind her neck, brought her back to him another tender kiss.

...

"Hey Boss, we got one," Cho said, sticking his head into her office the next day. "Over in Woodland. A couple of bodies were found, the Judge Fellmen called us in, it's it's his sister,"

"Great," Lisbon said with a roll of her eyes, as she closed a manila folder and tossed it on her desk. "Let's all go in the van,"

They arrived at the crime scene an hour later, an alleyway in the downtown Woodland area. Ducking under the tape, Lisbon called out instructions to her team as they met up with the head officer on the scene. "Rigsby, Van Pelt, do the bodies. Cho, you and Jane go talk to to the woman that found them. Officer Creed, catch me up,"

Jane squeezed Lisbon's wrist as he started away from her. They were in the midst of talking to the woman, when Jane felt a sense of unease come over him. Shifting from one foot to the other, he glanced around at the top of buildings on either side of them. Staring at the faces of the people that surrounded them, he shoved his hands in his pocket and squinted to study each one of them, not particularly interested in listening to the woman in front of him anymore.

His eyes went to Lisbon who was standing with her arms crossed in front of Officer Creed, listening to every word he was saying intently, as if they were was no death threat hanging over head. Cool and calm, typical Lisbon, he smiled at the thought. Just another reason why he loved her, if he was freaking out, he knew she would be calm. Just as he admiring her and her features, he saw heard Van Pelt say, "oh no" and then saw her run up to Lisbon, handing her a small piece of paper.

"Boss, we found this on the victim," he heard her say. He watched as Lisbon glanced at the paper, her eyes expressionless as they looked up to find him; he was already walking toward her for fear of what he knew was on the paper. Then all of the sudden he heard the gunfire, heard the people yelling, he saw Rigsby jump for Grace and Lisbon and pull them down, he felt a pain he couldn't locate and then felt himself being pulled towards the ground, hearing Cho's voice in his ear.

"Lisbon," he yelled, struggling to get up, but a steady hand on his back kept him down.

"Jane, help!" he heard her muffled cry and felt the pressure leave his back.

"Lisbon!" "Boss!" "Teresa!" he heard the team shout her name, and more spray of bullets. He struggled to stand, but felt lightheaded and stumbled. He heard a car doors open and shut, more gun fire, another strangled yell from Lisbon and then a car tires screeching.

"Teresa," Jane's hand went around his torso were he felt an oddly warm sensation spreading through him, as he stumbled forward, catching himself on the dumpsters. "No, Teresa," his voice was barely audible as other voices around him were shouting directions.

"Oh god, Jane," his vision started to blur and spin, but he heard Van Pelt's voice and felt her arms go around him to hold him up. "Cho, Jane's hit,"

"Lisbon...where?"

"He got her, Jane. He got her, Wayne too," he could hear the tears in her voice and felt himself slipping away. The news of Lisbon's capture not helping him, as he looked down at his hands , covered in blood.

"Just hold on Jane, hold on,"


	10. Chapter 10

Lisbon twisted her hands once more, attempting to loosen the zip tie that was already cutting into her skin. She winced as it started rubbing against raw flesh, and let out a frustrated sigh. Also not mistaking the cool feel of a metal cuff on one of her wrists, she struggled to remember where that had come from. She felt Rigsby, next to her, shifting around as well, and it brought a little comfort to her to know she wasn't alone. Although she feared it would soon take a turn for the worse. She didn't hear anyone else's breathing but their own, as the van sped along the road. Bumping every once in a while sending Lisbon and Rigsby skidding around in the back where they had been wrestled down, tied, and then left to be haphazardly tossed about by the jostling of the van.

She remembered the rain of bullets, Grace grabbing her, and then Rigsby grabbing both of them, hurtling them behind a dumpster. That's when she remembered hearing Grace yell to Rigsby "Do it, now!" and then that's when she felt the cuff go around her wrist.

She heard Jane call her name and when she tried to stand, she was jolted back, and that's when she realized she had been cuffed to Rigsby. But before she could respond, she was yanked by her coat collar and then by her arm, Rigsby dragging along, towards a van that had screeched up to end of the alley.

More bullets sprayed, Lisbon didn't know where they were coming from all she thought of was Jane. She yelled his name, followed by a 'help', knowing he wouldn't be able to do much. Trying to kick and shove, which was a little difficult one arm, she twisted around just in time to see Jane stumbling out from behind a dumpster. She remembered seeing his vest, stained with red.

She pressed her eyes shut, praying that he was okay.

"Boss, you okay?"

"Yeah, just great," Lisbon muttered.

"Sorry, you might of had a chance if you hadn't of been cuffed to me,"

"No, they would of gotten what they came for regardless," she said quietly. "Whose idea was it?"

"Cho's. We didn't tell you guys cause we knew you'd be against it. Whoever was closest was to cuff themselves to you. Two is better than one, right?"

Lisbon scoffed. "Yeah, I'm sure for a serial killer like Red John, he'll be thrilled,"

She heard Rigsby sigh and felt bad for her sarcasm. "Thank-you though," she added softly. "There is more hope with you here,"

"I've got a transmitter one me boss," he said quietly, "They'll find us,"

Lisbon's heart started beating more positively at that news. And despite circumstances she felt a small smile go across her lips, feeling a sense of pride of how her team came up with such an idea. But than reality came crashing back to her that this was Red John. "Let's just hope in time,"

He felt fuzzy as a the paramedics lifted him up onto a stretcher. He pressed his eyes shut against the pain, knowing it was all in his mind, he let out a deep breath to try to ease it out. No wonder he was so scared of guns and getting shot, it hurt like a bitch. He felt his shirt get ripped open, felt Grace's hand squeeze his shoulder.

"Grace. Lisbon?"

"They got her Jane. Wayne too. He's wearing a transmitter, Cho is tracking them now. Him and Hightower and a a few other agents are following,"

"What...happened?" he winced as a paramedic pressed a piece of gauze to his wound.

"Shooters on the roof. We don't know how many. Then van pulled up , three guys got out and grabbed Lisbon,"

"How did they get Wayne too?"

"He cuffed herself to him,"

Jane squeezed his eyes shut. The voice in his head telling him Rigsby's blood was on him. Adding to the list. "Why the hell-"

"He's got a transmitter on him, Cho and Hightower are tracking it now,"

Jane's eyes widened, as he felt the adrenaline start pumping through him. "Hey, is it fine down there?" he asked the paramedic, motioning to the wound.

"Just a flesh wound. I wanna take you in thought, get you stitched up,"

Jane waved him off. "Later. Grace. We have to go,"

"What? Jane you were just shot,"

"It's a flesh wound, I don't care. Come on," Jane bit back a yell as he pulled him self up, swinging his legs off the side of the gurney.

"Mr. Jane, please stay on-"

"I'm fine," Jane said through gritted teething, holding tightly to the rail on the gurney. "Van Pelt, tell them,"

Grace looked from Jane to the paramedics like she was trying to decide what to do, then finally waved off the paramedics, telling them she would be with him.

"Okay, now help me, let's go,"

"Jane you are covered in blood, at lea-"

There's a suitcase in Lisbon's car. We carried one around just in case we needed to bolt,"

Grace slipped an arm around Jane, letting out a grunt as he leaned heavily against her. "Boss is gonna kill me," she mumbled as they made their way to Lisbon's car.

"Let's hope she stays alive long enough to do that,"

About an hour later of drive, the van Lisbon and Rigsby were in, came to an unpleasant halt. Voices were heard, and so was the swinging of a porch door, car doors and footsteps.

"Boss, listen, whatever happens. Tell Grace...tell her I love her, and I just want her to be happy," Rigsby said in a hurried whisper.

Lisbon bit her bottom lip as the harsh reality set in. "I will,"

The van doors opened, and she felt hands on her arms as she was yanked out, Rigsby following.

"What is this?" a soft, slighter higher pitched voice asked. It made Lisbon shudder at the sound of it.

"He was cuffed to her. Nothing we can do, they were shooting back at us. So we just grabbed him.

Lisbon heard, what she assumed was Rigsby's blindfold coming off and felt him jerk around next to her. Reaching out her fingers, she found Rigsby's hand and squeezed them tightly, as if it were a goodbye.

"Mr. Wayne Rigsby. Attempting to be a hero are we?" the airy voice asked.

Rigsby was silent.

"I don't like to kill unnecessarily," his voice moved, Lisbon guessed he was circling them. "Nor do I like to kill unplanned. Half the reason why Mr. Jane pissed me off that day and his family suffered the consequences," his boots crunched on the gravel as he circled them. She felt a hand on a wrist, and heard the clinking of the cuffs, then the metal was slipped from her skin. She assumed someone picked the lock on it, as a pair of hands grabbed her by her forearms and jerked her away. She kicked and twisted, knowing it was useless as she was still blindfolded.

She heard a chuckle. "Oh, my dear Teresa, that is futile. But I do admire your spunk. I bet you give Patrick a run for his money,"

Suddenly she heard metal slicing flesh, Rigsby cry out, and a thud on the ground.

"Rigsby!" she yelled, struggling harder. "Rigsby!"

"I'm alright boss," Rigsby responded, she could hear the pain in his voice.

Another slice, another yell from Rigsby, and another thud. She heard Rigsby panting as shifting on the ground.

"Stop it! Stop it! Leave him alone, please. Please," Lisbon cried, struggling at the hands that held her in place. Footsteps coming towards her made her stop. She felt a face close to hers and she shuddered, knowing it was Red John

"For you Teresa," a voice said, and she felt a hand caress her cheek and then it was gone. "I am not a monster, if you recall, I did save Patrick Jane from being murdered, I could of done a much better job than those clowns, and spared that fat boy's life at at that" he sighed. "Leave him. Maybe he'll bleed out before they find him. Back to the house." the airy voice said as he walked away.

"Boss!" Rigsby called out in a choked yell.

She could hear him struggling to stand. "Rigsby, stay put. They'll find you, just hang on," Lisbon yelled over her shoulder as she was shoved back in the van. Before the doors shut she heard another person clamber in behind her. A hand grabbed her arm, she jerked it away. The back of a hand connected with her cheek and she banged against the wall of the van, everything becoming fuzzy and far away. She felt the sleeve of her go up and a prick of a needle pierce her skin, then slipped into the black.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Again thank-you, thank-you, for the reviews. Enjoy :)

Grace brought the car to a screeching halt at a dinky little house right off the road in the middle of nowhere, about an hour from where everything had gone down earlier. She saw Cho's car and two other agent's cars, and the flashing lights of the ambulance.

"Oh no," Grace mumbled, fumbling with her seatbelt, she hurried out of the car. "Cho," she yelled coming up behind him.

Cho turned around. "Hey, Rigsby's fine, he'll make it. Looks like he took some cuts with a knife though, deep ones, on his arm and back,"

"Oh god," Grace caught sight of him on the gurney and hurried over, Jane close behind her. "Wayne," she said tearfully, coming up beside him, she slipped her hand in his eyes and gave it a squeeze. "Is he gonna be ok?"

"He lost a good amount of blood, but I think he'll live. We need to get him to a hospital though," the paramedic said.

"Rigsby, what happened?" Jane asked, leaning against the gurney, trying to relieve some pressure from his torso.

Rigsby pulled the oxygen mask off his face. "We got out of the van...Red John...said something ...about a house,"

"Where's Lisbon?"

"Red John said...he didn't like to kill without reason...left me here...boss and him, back in the van. I'm... sorry Jane...I tried,"

Jane squinted his eyes as he looked off in the direction the van had probably left in. "You tried Rigsby, I'm glad you are alive. Not many people can say that after meeting Red John,"

Rigsby nodded and slipped the mask back on.

"Jane! What the hell? I thought you were shot?"

Jane jumped and grimaced at the noise as Hightower came walking over, arms crossed, frown in place.

"I'm fine, it's just a flesh wound. Right, Van Pelt?" he said, standing, his arm going over his wound.

"Yeah, he's fine," Grace said, her eyes still on Rigsby.

"Are YOU alright, Van Pelt?" Hightower asked, eyeing their hands still interlaced.

Reluctantly Grace pulled her hand away as the paramedics came back and wheeled him off. "I'm fine,"

"Rigsby said Red John said something about a house. That mean anything to you Jane,"

Jane shook his head. "I don't-" he was cut off by his phone ringing. Pulling it out of his pocket, his brow furrowed. "It's Lisbon," his heart rate picked up as he flipped it open and brought it to his ear as everyone drew closer. "Yes?"

"Patrick. It's been awhile," the airy voice came over the speaker and Jane's grip on the phone tightened.

"Where is Lisbon?" he said through clenched teeth.

"Not even a please, that won't due. Listen to me closely Patrick. I'm a man who doesn't mind change, I adapt with the times. If you've noticed today, the guns, the extra men, hail of gunfire, not normally me. Speaking of, are you alright?" his voice was slow and light, carefree almost.

"Where is Lisbon?" he emphasized each word.

"She's alive for now. See, I had to change my plans when you guys changed yours by not calling attention to my warning. Not telling anyone, that's good, you did throw me, I had to spend a whole day thinking of how to do what I'm about to do next. Think outside the box, ya know,"

Jane was silent, none of this was sounding good in Lisbon's favor. "You show some bravery, continuing on with your little love affair with this beautiful woman, even after I warned you. True courage right there, true love too. Now, I don't want you to loose your way again, like you did LAST time. We saw who suffered for that mistake,"

"What do you want from me?" Jane seethed.

"I also didn't like how you were so wrapped in her, you didn't pick up my case file once in the past few weeks,"

Jane bit the inside of his cheek with frustration. "What do you want from me?" he growled again, his anger tipping the scale as his patience was wearing thing. He just wanted Lisbon safe.

"I see why though, Ms. Lisbon is a fair beauty, unlike the Frye woman, somewhat mousy, no spunk, not my taste,"

"Don't you, lay a finger on her,"

"She's saved you so many times Patrick, she even saved you from yourself, pulling you out of your little hole of self pity you created for yourself. Let's see if you can save her. I'm sure your friends at the CBI can trace where this call is made from. I'm not going anywhere," and with that Red John hung up.

Jane wordlessly handed the phone back to Cho, who disappeared with it, staring off into the distance, not believing what was happening. His wound was numb, he felt nothing, just dread. His heart felt like it was drowning and no matter how hard he tried to get to the surface, he kept getting pulled down. He was above water when he was Lisbon, if anything happened her, he was sure he would sink.

As Jane ambled aimlessly away from the team, he scuffed at the dirt road with his toe of his tennis shoes, smirking a little at the sight of his shoes. He remembered when they were packing this bag, he had just wanted to pack another suit, and his 'old man' shoes he was wore. But Lisbon had insisted on normal tennis shoes, a pair of washed out jeans, a snug gray t-shirt, that in her opinion hugged all the right places, and cream colored jacket, since he liked layers so much. She loved the way it all looked on him and for him, it had been awhile since he donned normal clothes.

His suits. His suits helped keep him check. Helped keep him business and away from being personal. He wore them all time in his line of work before the CBI and he wore them all time now to keep him focused on his job, which was finding Red John and distant from anyone that tried to get close. But with Lisbon, he would pad around in pjs, jogging pants and t-shirts, be naked; it was personal. She had stripped him out of the suit, both literally and figuratively speaking, away from business and back to the land of the living their relationship. She had saved him.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, he shoved his hands in his jacket pocket and turned back towards the team.

"We got it," Cho called out as everyone gathered around him. "Looks like an abandon house on the other side of Sacramento. Bout 2 hours from here,"

"Alright, I want teams-"

"No," Jane cut Hightower off who in turned stare at him as if he had just called her a nasty name.

"Excuse me?"

"It's just him. No need for all the teams. Just one and you, Cho, and Van Pelt; the less the better. He didn't say to come alone, so he's expecting alot of people, sirens, megaphones, the whole shazam. We change it up, throw him again, we may have the upperhand,"

Hightower thought about it a moment, then nodded. "Our friends out in New York sent us a thermal vision thing, we haven't used it out here yet, but I think this situation is begging for it. It'll let us see where the warm bodies are inside the building. Make sure Lisbon is even in there before we go busting in,"

Jane nodded, biting his tongue about the "we" busting in; a matter he would discuss when the time came up.

"Alright, let's load up and book it,"

Lisbon's head jerked upright as she came too. First thing coming to her attention was she was wet. Bringing her arms up, she found she wasn't bound at all, she pushed herself up slowly, realizing she was laying in a puddle of water. Looking up she was met with droplets on her face, a leak in the roof. Making a face she pushed herself further up, holding onto the wall for support and looked around the room. It was a good size room, with two chairs sitting in the middle, the only light was from the cracks coming through the boarded up windows on the one side.

Letting out a grunt of frustration she sank slowly back to the ground, resting her arms on her knees, hands clasped together. "Come on Jane," she whispered into the dark.

Suddenly the door swung open and Lisbon looked up. A medium size man, boots, long black leather jacket, leather gloves, scary mask and a hat came sauntering in, followed by two men dressed in jeans and a shirt.

He spoke, that airy, almost innocent, yet creepy sounding voice and Lisbon knew; this was Red John. "Teresa, so glad to finally meet you,"

Her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest, yet she tried to remain calm. Lifting her head, she stared at him.

"Do you know who I am?" he asked.

Lisbon stood, hands clenched to her side as she glared at the man behind the mask. "Red John,"

He flipped a switch and a dimly lit light flickered on in the center of the ceiling "Very good. Please, sit with me," he waved a hand to the two chairs in the middle of the room as he made his way to them.

Lisbon didn't move.

"I was afraid of your stubbornness," he said calmly as the two men approached Lisbon.

Lisbon stiffened up and attempted to hold her ground, but the two men were larger and each took an arm, dragging her over to the chair, they shoved her down.

"Goons?" Lisbon questioned, jerking her arms out of their grasp.

He chuckled, his voice echoing through his mask. "You are my prized possession, my greatest catch; can't take any chances now, can I?"

"What do you expect to happen? Jane to come bursting through that door? The CBI?"

"On the contrary, I have no idea what to expect. You two have been changing it up, so I've had change things, it's all quiet a mystery to me as to how this will play out. I WAS just planning on killing you, but like I told Mr. Jane, you all changed my plans,"

Lisbon tried to relax in the chair, trying the show no fear route. "Well gee, thanks,"

He laughed again, then sobered. "Did your father make you this tough character. I would imagine so, beating you and your brothers all those time, showing no fear, even when he cracked a wine bottle over your head was it?,"

Lisbon's face fell, her eyes widened. "How did you..?"

"I do my research,"

Lisbon was silent, her jaw clenched, arms crossed over her chest, she glared at him.

"I haven't decided Teresa, I can either kill you..make Jane suffer, possible even take his own life. Maybe do the same thing I did to Kristina Frye, THAT would truly make him suffer, or deilver you back damaged beyond repair and make him live with it, being with you everyday knowing he cause your...disfigurement,"

Lisbon swallowed, none of those were pleasant options to her. She had to find a way to get out.

"What do you want with him?"

Red John cocked his head to one side."I take pleasure in people's suffering, that's all. Patrick Jane made the mistake of messing with me first. Now it's all just a game,"

"You're a sick sadistic bastard, you know that?"

"I know,"

Lisbon glared at the masked man, feeling the urge just to jump him right there and knock the mask right off his face, but that would surely seal her fate if she did that.

Red John rose and walked over to the windows, peaking out the cracks. "Rain's letting up, the sun is coming out. It's almost time,"

Lisbon mulled it over for a split second. The two "goons" were behind her and Red John was by the window, she had a clear shot to the door, it was now or never.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N : Thank-you, thank-you for the reviews everybody! aannd the climax. Enjoy :)

They were about 10 minutes out from Lisbon's location. Jane sat in the passenger seat, his elbow propped on the arm rest, chin in hand, staring out at the passing scenery around him. His thoughts going a thousand different directions at all the possible outcomes of the situation.

Then suddenly, he didn't know what brought it on, he became antsy, unsettled, like something was happening beyond his control and he wasn't there for it, and he couldn't do anything to stop the outcome. Shifting in his seat he crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes. He knew it was Lisbon. Something was going on, something was wrong.

A vibration in his pants pocket sent him jumping, startling Grace as he fumbled for his phone. It was an unknown number. With a frown, he flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Jane!"

"Lisbon?" he leaned forward in his seat. "Lisbon, what's going on?" he could hear moving in the back ground, her heavy breathing. "Are you okay?"

"I'm got away. Still in the house. I have a gun,"

"Lisbon, just get out. Run, run. We are almost there,"

Silence.

"Teresa,"

"Jane, I can take him-"

"We'll take him when we get there,"

"If I leave, he'll be gone before you guys get back. It's a fairly large house, I could stay...," Lisbon's voice dropped off.

"Teresa," he whispered, his eyes were frantic as he felt hopeless on the phone, listening to what was going on. He heard what felt like the phone sliding on material, then gunfire, shots, Lisbon yelling. "Teresa!" he yelled into the phone, on the verge of tears as Grace slammed her foot against the gas pedal, taking off from the group.

Lisbon kicked and thrashed despite the pain in her thigh as two men held her by her forearms. She felt the blood pouring down her leg, but she continued to squirm and kick until Red John stood right in front of her. A backhand across the face stilled her movements, as she let out a yelp.

"And here I was, intrigued by your beauty, tempted to let you live, and you try to escape," Red John said calmly. "You've thrown off my schedule, you'll have to forgive me if i'm a little flustered,"

Lisbon heard the sick sound of metal being unsheathed, and knew it was his knife. She didn't know what else to do, she saw her brothers, her father, her mother, her team, her life pass before eyes. She saw Jane, what would happen to him? She needed to be there for him, he needed her. But the pain in her leg was becoming too intense as the bullet started to settle, and the blood loss continued. She didn't want to feel the pain that Red John was about to inflict so she tried to succumb to the unconscious that was beckoning to her.

She vaguely felt the hands holding her let go and she fell to the ground in a heap. She felt his hands roll her over, and then travel over her body, down each leg and arm, across her hips and stomach, skimming her breasts and caressing her throat. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to remember and imagine Jane's touch, that's all she wanted to remember. She didn't feel the first three slices, just small sensations in the slits that blood started to flow from her body and she slipped further and further away. As she felt like she was falling into a white abyss, pain free, numb, loud bangs brought her to a harsh halt, and all the color came back rushing back to her vision. A heavy a thud and so much pressure on her chest. It was hard to breathe, the pain from every wound, every hit, it was too intense. She heard her name being called and with blurred vision saw the face she loved so much, his blonde curls standing out has her vision dimmed.

"Jane," she breathed.

.xxxx.

It was Cho in the end that took the shot. After seeing Jane and Grace take off from their caravan, he didn't hesitate to speed along with them. They had managed to hold Jane back from bursting in, unarmed, yelling Lisbon's name, knowing that would just get him killed. Instead, Grace and Cho quickly and covertly entered with Jane not hesitating, right behind them. They had kicked into the room to see two burly men already down, and two more standing over a body while a third knelt over the body.

Cho didn't think twice about his shots, as Grace went for the two standing. In seconds they were down and Jane was running over to Lisbon. Throwing Red John's body off her, he dropped to his knees, saying her name over and over again. His hands cradled her head as he felt for a pulse at her neck. Then her eyes fluttered open and she cracked a small smile as she breathed his name, then slipped back into her pain free world. Surveying the damage as Cho radioed in for an ambulance, he saw her gunshot wound and immediately applied pressure to it. Then noticed blood seeping out of cuts, one on each arm that ran from forearm up to almost her shoulder and then a third that he had started right under her ribcage, but only got halfway through before they had interrupted.

Tears flowed down Jane's face as he tried to apply pressure to as many wounds as he could. He yelled for Cho to help, who dropped down next to him and started applying pressure as well.

He watched as Lisbon slipped into unconsciousness, and a few moments later paramedics rushed in, pushing him aside. He fell back against the wall, in a daze, his eyes empty as he stared at the blood stains that were left from Lisbon's body. His eyes wandered over to Red John's body, as he finally began to realize that Red John was dead. The nightmare of that life was officially over. He heard the doctors pronounce him dead and instead of feeling relief, satisfaction, and joy, he felt like a brick was laying on his heart. If he lost Lisbon, he didnt' know what he would do, there was no person he could seek revenge cause that person was already dead, possible taking with him the last person that meant something to him and there wasn't anything Jane could do to stop it.

Grace knelt down next to him, placing a soft hand on his shoulder. "You ok?"

Jane shook his head and watched as they swiftly carried Lisbon off on a stretcher. "I need to go with her," he managed to get out.

Grace nodded and gripped his arm, pulling her up with him, she pulled him along with her till they reached the ambulance. "He's with her,"

.xxxx.

He waited. For what seemed like days, but was really only a few hours, he waited. Not moving from the waiting room chairs, only shifting in positions every once in while. He had held her limp hand the whole way to the hospital. The paramedics said she was somewhat stable, but had lost a good amount of blood from the gunshot wound and the cuts. Once they arrived at the hospital they wheeled her away and directed him to the chairs, saying a doctor would be out to see him once they knew something else. So now, he waited.

He dozed in and out for a while, until a nurse came and shook him. She took him to Lisbon's room explaining to him that the doctors had removed the bullet, stitched up her cuts and had done a transfusion to replace the blood that was lost. As long as nothing else popped up, she would be fine.

Tears pricked his eyes as he heard the news, walking down the corridors of the hospital. He paused in his steps and reached out for the wall, the nurse quickly asking if he was alright. He slowly nodded and closed his eyes, so many different kinds of relief spreading over him. Relief that Lisbon was gonna be alright, that Red John was gone forever, there would never be that threat looming over their relationship, their lives, her life. That focus, driving him, making him, at times, insufferable to be around. Now he could have some sense of peace.

Opening his eyes, he continued following the nurse into a room. Monitors were steadily beeping, as they entered and Jane's eyes fell Lisbon. She was almost as white as the sheets, her dark hair contrasting harshly agains the paleness. She had a small bandage along her jawline, a faded bruise on her cheek, and her arms had a line of bandages going up the wound that Red John had inflicted.

Swallowing hard, he walked over and stared down at her. Reaching out he brushed a few loose strands off her face, letting his fingers linger on cheek for a moment. He bent down and placed a gently kiss on her forehead. "I'm here," he whispered. Pulling a chair up behind him he settled himself into it, wrapping his jacket closer around him he crossed his arms over his chest, closed his eyes, and waited.


	13. Chapter 13

The steady beeping of the heart monitors kept Jane in a constant state of drowsiness. He tried to stay awake, but the day was wearing on him, and the lack of sleep the past couple of nights was finally catching up. Just as his eyes were closing, he noticed Lisbon's hand twitch slightly and her body shift. His eyes flew open and as he reached forward, grasping her hand gently in his.

"Teresa," he said softly, holding his breath.

Slowly her eyes fluttered open. "Jane?"

A smile broke out on his face as she breathed his name. "Hey,"

"What happened?"

"We found you," Jane said.

"I...why am I in the hospital?"

Jane's brow furrowed. "You don't remember?"

Lisbon stared at Jane as she thought a moment. "I...was in a room, there were two guys...Red John,"

Jane nodded.

Lisbon squeezed her eyes shut. "Red John walked away...the door was open...I ran. Oh god, Rigsby? Did you find Rigsby? He was hurt,"

"Yeah, we found him, he'll be alright, he's actually just down the hall,"

Lisbon let out a small sigh. "I thought...it was over. Everything was white, I didn't feel anything,"

Jane sucked in a deep breath, it had been that close. He squeezed her hand gently, not able to find the words to express how he was feeling, he smiled softly.

"Tired," she murmured as her eyes started to droop.

"Go to sleep," he said quietly, starting to pull his hand away, but Lisbon held tight to it.

"Don't...go," were her fading words as she fell back to sleep.

Letting out a small sigh, he pulled his chair closer to the bed so that he could still hold her hand and settled back down, dozing off into a restless slumber.

Lisbon woke later, when Cho, Grace and Hightower visited. While they chatted and visited, Jane sat solemnly in his chair, hands folding in his lap, just listening. Lisbon recalled the events of what had happened, her conversation with Red John, the moment where she ran, found the gun and cell phone on the kitchen counter, than ran and hid in another room. All to have it all play out like it did when they had busted in. Lisbon thanked all of them for their hard work and finding her, choking up slightly when she thanked Cho in the end. Jane watched as Cho squeezed her ankle affectionally, mumbling something about not wanting to have to handle Jane by himself. A tinge of unexpected jealousy coursed through him, definitely not the feeling he was expecting to feel at Cho's display of affection towards Lisbon. He knew they were close, but, thinking back to when they burst into the room, he remembered how Cho didn't even hesitate in shooting down Red John.

Jane chewed the inside of his lip, becoming unsettled at the thoughts that came springing to his mind.

"Jane? Jane?" Hightower's voice interrupted his thoughts as his eyes moved from Lisbon's feet and met Hightowers. "You'll need to come in, soon, I think we have a lot to discuss now that the Red John case is closed,"

Jane pressed his lips in a thin line and nodded his head.

"Alright. We'll get outta here, let you rest Lisbon,"

Goodbyes were exchanged as Hightower, Cho and Grace left and Lisbon's gaze settled on Jane's zoned out figure.

"You okay?"

He snapped back, his eyes going to her, "Yeah, I'm fine,"

"You're quiet,"

He smiled softly. "Been a rough couple of days,"

"I'm sorry,'

Jane waved off her apology and looked away, his eyes beginning to glisten with tears.

Lisbon winced as she scooted over in her bed so that there was a big gap next to her. Patting the spot, she frowned when he didn't move. "Please," it came out a hoarse request, and Jane couldn't resist it.

Gently climbing in next to her, he wrapped one arm around her tiny frame and the other started fiddling with her fingers as they lay clasped in her lap. Giving her a small squeeze, he pressed his lips to the side of her temple and closed his eyes.

"Talk to me,"

Jane let out a sigh, letting his fingers trace invisible patterns on her knuckles. "I should of protecting you better," he let out in a strangled whisper. "I couldn't protect my family, I couldn't protect-"

"Hey, you saved me-"

"Cho saved you, I watched,"

"What were you gonna do, go run and tackle the man who was wielding a knife?" Lisbon turned slightly.

"Cho didn't think twic-"

"Enough with that. Cho is a trained police officer, I would hope he didn't think twice about shooting someone who was about to kill me,"

"Did you and Cho ever go out?"

Lisbon's eyes widened at the question as she pulled back from his embrace and glared at him. "What are you crazy?"

Jane avoided looking her directly in the eyes and stared at his hand.

"That's seriously the first question you ask after this whole ordeal,"

Jane shifted uncomfortable.

"No, we never dated,"

Jane shrugged his shoulders. "He cares for you,"

"We never went out,"

"Okay,"

Lisbon took a deep breath. "How are you doing?"

"I haven't really processed everything. Mixed emotions I guess,"

Lisbon nestled further against him, resting her head on his shoulder and swinging her arm around his torso. "I'm here if you wanna talk, nothing over our heads anymore,"

"Yeah," he said slowly, his hands fingered the bandages on her arm and he closed his eyes. Mixed emotions was an understatement. He was glad Red John was dead, uncertain how he felt that it hadn't happened by his own hand. Happy that Lisbon was safe, upset that she was taken from in the first place. The only thing he found peace in was the simple fact that his family's killer was now gone and could never kill again. He never had to fear for Lisbon's life because of Red John again, that was another plus. They could now focus on their relationship and attempt to make it as normal as they could. He wasn't sure what they were going to to do about work and Hightower, sure that it would it come about eventually. He knew that Lisbon knew that he was in the this for the long run so she wouldn't have to fear about him going off. He sighed and pulled her closer, dropping another kiss on her forehead as she closed her eyes.

"Sleep Teresa, I'll be here when you wake up,"

Two Months Later...

"Patrick Jane!" Lisbon yelled stomping into her office. "You let my suspect go!"

Jane lazily propped himself up from his position on the couch, an amused grin on his face. "I did not let him go. Just may of suggested for him to run,"

"And what if he's the killer?" Lisbon retorted, slamming her door shut.

"Meh, he's not," Jane said matter-of-factly.

"You are infuriating sometimes you know that," Lisbon glanced over her shoulder as she headed for chair, the glance at Jane causing her to bump into her desk. "Ouch," she winced, right at the spot where her bullet wound was two months ago.

Jane jumped immediately, going to her side, on arm around her waist , the other searching for wherever she was hurt. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she sighed, leaning into his touch. "Just tender," she rubbed her leg where the wound was. "It'll be fine,"

"Sit," Jane lead her over to the chair and eased her down into it, positioning himself on the edge of her desk facing her. "You overdue it,"

"I'm fine," Lisbon said, starting to type on her computer.

Jane's hand reached over and skimmed the scar that peeked out from under shirt. There was one on each arm, Lisbon wore long shirts most of the time, but whenever anybody say them they didn't say anything.

Lisbon looked down at his hand then back the computer, "Work, Jane. Hightower is allowing us to continue only if we don't let it affect our work," she reminded softly. "Since she can't technically stop it anyway, she does threaten to fire one of us,"

Jane sighed, dropping his hand. "Fine. But I have a surprise for you after work. We'll take my car. A kiss?"

"No,"

"Just a peck?"

Lisbon fought a smile at his persistence. "No, I'm still mad at you,"

Jane grinned and leaned down dropping a quick peck on her cheek. "I have an errand to run,"

Lisbon smiled as she watched him walk, happily, away. There was a slight spring to his step and the grin on his face she hadn't seen in a long, long time.

"Jane, where are you going?" Lisbon asked, cocking one eyebrow as they missed their turn to head to Lisbon's apartment.

"My surprise," Jane whispered, lacing his fingers with hers, resting their hands on the console between them.

Lisbon rolled her eyes and looked out the window. "Where are we going?"

"That would be the exact opposite of surprise, if I told you,"

A few minutes later they pulled up into nice, private condo complex, that looked like a row of modern townhouses all on three blocks. Jane squeezed into a parking spot and quickly hopped out, running over to help Lisbon out on her side.

"What is this place?" Lisbon asked slowly.

"Well, I told you would I start taking steps to show you how much I love you, and I told you we would do this relationship right,"

"Uh..Jane," Lisbon froze in her spot. "This isn't-"

"So, I thought about it and I was trying to figure out what wasn't normal about us,"

Lisbon smirked.

"Hush. And I realized, we are always at your place, so," he drew out the 'so' as they walked up the path to the front door of one of the condos. They stopped in front of it, and he turned towards her, beaming from ear to ear at her confused, almost terrified face. "I sold, my houses,"

"You didn't sell my apartment too, did you?"

Jane chuckled and reached over, tucking a pesky fly away behind her ear. "No, my dear, that is your sanctuary, I would not dare take it from you,"

Lisbon smiled softly.

"This is my place,"

Lisbon's eyebrows arched as he unlocked the door and swung it open. "You bought this place?"

"Yeah, fresh start. You have your place, I have mine, like every other couple," Jane followed behind her as they walked in and Lisbon got a look at the simple, yet modernly furnished place. "And the best part," he took the lead, tugging her hand as he lead her upstairs. They passed the first two doors and headed back to the last one. "Of course whenever you stay over, I want you to sleep with me, but...if ever you need your space," he opened the door on that last note and Lisbon took in a sharp breath. There was a queen size bed on one wall, a dresser and a desk on the other two and big oversized comfy chair in the corner by the window.

"Oh my," Lisbon breathed, giving Jane that same smile back when he had surprised her with a pony on her birthday.

"And if you open the dresser drawers, they are full with all Lisbony clothes and the bathroom is full of your kind of products,"

"THIS is not normal," Lisbon laughed, turning towards him and wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Meh, not everything has to be," Jane laced his hands behind her back, smiling down at her.

"Thank-you," she said quietly. "It's too much, but thank-you,"

Jane bent down, landing a passionate kiss on her lips. Pulling back, he rested his forehead against hers. "And thank-you Teresa, for saving me,"

Lisbon smiled.

"Now, how about we christen these rooms," he murmured, meeting her again for another kiss.

Fin

Thank-you, Thank-you- Thank-you! To all the people that read, reviewed, added me as a fav author, and fav story. Thank-you! Thank-you! I hope you guys enjoyed reading it, as much as I did writing :)


End file.
